An ammonia leak at the Agrosuper plant leaves a worker dead

• The escape caused the paralysis of tasks and thousands of evacuees among workers, students and officials of nearby schools, this after the activation of emergency protocols

Luis Fernando González

Photos: Héctor Vargas

Ammonia, at room temperature, is a colorless gas with very pungent odor and nauseating . It is produced naturally by decomposition of organic matter and is also manufactured industrially. Thanks to its vaporization properties, it is useful as a refrigerant, it is used relentlessly in the industry and on hockey fields because of its high efficiency of energy conversion and its low cost .

For the causes that are the subject of the investigation, a leak of this gas, caused a chemical emergency at the factory Lo Miranda of Agrosuper, apparently in a pipeline In the machinery sector of the slaughterhouse, a major gas leak has occurred, resulting in the death of a worker.

confirmed the commander of the Fire Department of Doñihue, Osvaldo Venegas, when the first volunteers arrived, the number of fumes was sufficient, but the gas flow was quickly cut by the factory staff. Once the leak was detected, the company's emergency protocols were put in place, the brigades making a first intervention, while the fire department of the municipality was solicited, which in turn solicited support from Hazmat unit (hazardous materials) of the Rancagua Fire Department.

The volunteers, well encapsulated to isolate themselves from the toxic environment, first followed the sector in search of workers who might have stayed behind and then proceeded to ventilate the area. [19659003] According to the director of the plant, Ricardo Gómez, this would be an accidental situation in the refrigerators area. He explained that the 1,315 workers evacuated – once the situation under control – returned to groups of 100 to change their clothes and go to their homes, the work of the factory being totally suspended until it was over. that the health authorities are in contact.

This was explained by Dr. Rafael Borgoño of Health, who said that it was not necessary to paralyze the plant by force, but that the company was self-financing, "this paralysis will last until what causes are examined We set a record to open an investigation and see if it deserves a health summary, "he said.

The deceased worker was identified as 62-year-old Oscar Pérez Quezada, and 8 other wounded were transported to the FUSAT Hospital. Rancagua.

It should be noted that the first attention paid to the wounded was brought to the local CESFAM, an area contaminated by chemicals brought by the wounded, and in turn its 40 evacuees. Firefighters took on patient decontamination tasks before they could be transferred to Rancagua.

Several authorities went there, including Mayor Ivonne Mangelsdor, who explained that a "command center had been established there". In collaboration with ONEMI, firefighters, carabinieri of Chile and the company have taken the measures that are required to avoid further complications in the community. "

One of these measures was to order the immediate evacuation of two educational institutions, Assured the Seremi de Educación, Leonardo Fuentes." 230 students and 57 civil servants working at the school. La Isla school were evacuated, as well as about sixty children belonging to a children's home of the Integra Foundation as a preventive measure, without harming their health, "he said.

The duty prosecutor instructed the IDP to investigate the real cause of this fatal accident, according to the statement of the commissioner of the Homicide Brigade (BH), Juan Reyes, "the Rancagua prosecutor requested BH and the staff of the Regional Forensic Laboratory (Lacrim) to carry out various procedures. We perform expert tests to reliably establish the circumstances in which the event occurred, the census of witnesses and also to externally know the body of the victim. "

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