At least one person has died, and nine others are still reported missing following a major chemical explosion at a paper mill in Washington, authorities said, UNN reports citing the BBC.
Details
The explosion occurred at 07:15 local time (18:15 Kyiv time) at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant in Longview, 210 km south of Seattle.
The explosion was caused by a "rupture of a tank containing white liquor," the company said in a statement. White liquor is a highly corrosive chemical used in the papermaking process.
Nine people were injured in the spill, including eight workers and one firefighter, the Longview Fire Department said Tuesday evening, adding that the tank remains unstable.
"Recovery efforts remain difficult due to ongoing safety concerns at the site," the fire department's evening update said.
"Currently, the tank remains unstable, creating hazardous conditions for emergency response personnel," the statement said. "Rescuers are continuing efforts to structurally reinforce and stabilize the scene before additional recovery work can safely begin."
While investigators initially believed the tank contained about 300,000 liters of white liquor, officials later stated it contained approximately 3,406,000 liters.
The fire department reported that about 340,000 liters "may remain inside the damaged tank."
Addendum
The explosion occurred after officials in California stated that the threat from a chemical tank that had been at risk of exploding had been neutralized.