Chemical plant exploded in Germany and declared extreme danger

On another side, five of the injured are in therapy intensive and one of them is even more serious by many and serious Burns.

The Currenta plant includes a waste storage center and an incinerator. And the fire that followed the explosion and ignited a solvent tank was extinguished after several hours of intervention by firefighters. Corn the toll, including environmental, could get even worse when the toxic cloud that has spread over 60 kilometers to Dortmund dissipates.

The chemists’ workplace, which is located on the edge of an industrial park that brings together companies in the sector, one of the largest in Europe, has around 160,000 inhabitants. As a result, emergency services and firefighting teams have been relocated.

20 kilometers from Cologne, air quality measurements show that the population is not in danger.

Mayor Uwe Richrath spoke about “a dark day for the citizens of Leverkusen”, as black as the column of smoke that terrorized them from 9.40 a.m., when an explosion broke the silence. It was so powerful that it was even heard at the geological and seismic service station in Hespertal, 40 kilometers north of Leverkusen.

A chemical plant has exploded in Germany.jpg

The company said in a statement that, although it is under investigation, the cause of the explosion is unknown at this time.. Still, according to preliminary reports, the explosion may have occurred at one of the waste combustion plants at Chempark, the industrial complex in the German city of Leverkusen, in western Germany.

However, it is not yet known exactly what substances were released by the fire and an air measurement is in progress.

According to information from National Environment Agency (Lanuv), an assessment of the presence of relevant substances in precipitation after the fire will only be possible around the weekend. In addition to being an environmental disaster, the explosion is increasingly shaping up to be a dramatic accident at work.

The President of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), Armin Laschet, expressed his condolences to the families affected by the explosion and thanked the rescuers “who, by their courageous mission, prevented the worst from happening”.