Around 10 pm, a violent explosion and fire ripped through a building used to temporarily store smokeless gunpowder.

This building was entirely destroyed and 13 craters were visible on the ground where it stood; 29 other buildings on the site were also completely destroyed, plus another 39 partially destroyed, and 252 structures sustained damage (for 60 of them, damage was limited to broken windows). Outside the facility, a total of 888 buildings were damaged: 12 collapsed, 26 partially gutted and 440 with lighter damage. A total of 410 dwellings were damaged, 364 of which by broken window panes, and 79 injuries were reported.

The powder had been stored for several years inside this “temporary” depot under highly unsatisfactory conditions: direct exposure to sunrays, inadequate temperature and humidity controls, etc. Lacking stability, the powder self-ignited; the 7.7 tonnes, which were exposed to high temperatures (in excess of the critical height for explosion threshold?), exploded.

The day before, 36 kg of powder had entered storage and another 31 kg left; no abnormal phenomenon had been observed.

The company spent €22.6 million in compensation for external damage (with purchase of the cereal crop as a means of preventing eventual contamination), plus another €5.3 million to rebuild the installations. Operating losses due to the plant closing amounted to €7.5 million.

The operator had not identified the explosion risk. The training of technicians and managers was strengthened, as was the safety monitoring and management system (through the implementation of backup controls); in addition, stability tests on the explosives were conducted. The products were stored to avoid direct exposure to sunlight or to excessive humidity and temperature. Along these lines, temperature and humidity recorders were installed. Technicians were reminded that the temporary storage depot had been designed to warehouse semi-finished products for short periods (with regular monitoring). An automatic fire extinction system was introduced in all temporary storage units. As a final modification, the size of containers and the quantities of powder stored per container were reduced.