An explosion at a chemical company in an industrial park in Germany killed at least two people and injured 31 Tuesday. The raw video shows the emergency response to the explosion.
Five people are still missing. “The search for the missing continues at high pressure. Unfortunately hope of finding them alive is fading rapidly,” Chempark wrote in a statement. “My thoughts are with the injured and their loved ones.”
The explosion happened at the waste management facility of the Chempark site in Leverkusen, near Cologne. The City of Leverkusen said the explosion occurred in storage tanks for solvents. Chempark operator Currenta said three tanks were affected by the explosion and ensuing fire. Curranta went on to say it was too early to know the cause.
Leverkusen Mayor Uwe Richrath called the blast “a tragic moment for Leverkusen.”
It took firefighters almost four hours to extinguish the fire. A large plume of smoke from the explosion caused police shut down several nearby major highways for several hours.
City officials asked all residents to stay inside until the late afternoon and warned people from outside Leverkusen to avoid the region. Eventually, fire officials who tested the air said there did not appear to be a danger to nearby residents.
However, city officials warned people not to let children play outside, use outside pools or eat fruit and vegetables from their backyards in the coming days. They said it will take at least a few days to figure out how toxic the soot from the explosion is.
More than 30 companies operate at the Chempark site including Bayer. Bayer is one of Germany’s biggest chemical companies making it one of the biggest employers in the region. In total, there are more than 70 different companies based throughout Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen.
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