Around mid-afternoon, an explosion occurred in a cartridge workshop during the demolition of a derelict building. Two people were seriously injured and 3 others in a state of shock. A shop area used between 1932 and 1983 to produce mercury fulminate was being dismantled. The fulminate was employed to produce igniters for the activation of car airbags ; the site was known for this specialized manufacturing. The dismantling operation consisted of destroying the smoke processing facility, composed of 44 refractory “bowls”, by use of a power shovel. Two employees then sorted through the debris, with materials potentially contaminated by mercury separated from the others and placed in bags for discharge in a special waste dump. A reaction happened during the sorting phase, as 75% of the condensors were treated.

The site was closed and secured. A judicial investigation was launched and the court appointed an expert. According to the initial technical assessments, pyrotechnic residues made more sensitive by the various handling steps would have caused the explosion. The opérators were not carrying their individual protections. The experts recall the importance of dismantling an installation as soon as it is definitively stopped in order to avoid the “loss of memory” and knowledge of the products used.