At 1:15 pm in an oil depot, an aerosol sparked. One minute later, an explosion occurred that was perceptible several km away. The fire spread and in just a few minutes, several tanks containing hundreds of m³ exploded, sending them[...]
A fire broke out within a warehouse (depot 956) containing phytosanitary products south of Basel. The first responders had been on the scene for 20 min. when fire-fighting teams from neighbouring sites arrived to provide backup. The 80-m high flames[...]
A road combination (tractor and semitrailer) containing 19.38 tonnes of explosives (mainly dynamite in cartridges) exploded around 11:30 pm while stopped on the CD 85 road along the Crouzille pond, 600 m from a junction with the N20 national highway.[...]
The summary of this accident has not yet been translated. In the meantime, please refer to the French summary : Une émission de 3,5 t de CVM a lieu sur un site chimique fabricant du PVC. La chaîne Poly III[...]
At around 10.15 pm, a fire engulfed a 1,600-m² warehouse containing finished chemical products. Despite rapid intervention, the fire menaced a nitric acid production unit, thirteen 1-ton containers of dimethylsulfate (DMSO4) and ammonia tanks. The metal framework and the roof[...]
At a pesticide manufacturing plant set up in 1969, a release of about 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) and other toxic gases continued for 2 hours during the night of 2nd to 3rd December, subsequent to a runaway reaction[...]
In the storage tanks of a refinery (production: 5 million tonnes/year), smoke was detected on a 94,000-m³ capacity floating roof tank containing 47,000 tonnes of light crude oil (flash point: 38°C). Shortly thereafter, the surface (4,800 m²) ignited. In the[...]
An explosion occurred at 2:15 pm inside the materials handling tower of a silo located at a malt house during repairs of the facility's slabs and installation of a dust removal system, performed by 3 subcontracted employees. The filling ratio[...]
Fire broke out in a wholesale hardware store located in the city centre at the site of a former foundry. The facility was storing in small packets 14 tonnes of sodium chlorate and 33,000 litres of flammable liquids (alcohol, solvents,[...]
20 t of acrolein was released into the Rhone River. The manufacturing unit was undergoing its annual shutdown at the time and the neutralisation ponds (2 x 250 m³) were under repair. For the last four months, the tank cleaning[...]
