Explosion hits Leverkusen chemicals park

LONDON (ICIS)–An explosion has ripped through the Leverkusen, Germany, chemicals park on Tuesday, site operator Currenta said, leaving several employees seriously hurt and others missing.

The explosion occurred at Chempark Leverkusen at around 9:40 local time (8:40 BST), Currenta said, followed by a fire at the site’s waste disposal centre in the Burrig neighbourhood.

Five employees at the site are missing several are injured, two seriously, according to Currenta, with Leverkusen residents instructed to stay indoors with air conditioning switched off and doors and  windows closed.

Park and regional emergency services have mobilised to the site, as have teams from nearby Cologne.

Cologne Fire Department, which has also dispatched teams  to the site, said that stretches of numerous motorways around the area, including the A1, A3 and A59, had been shut down.

Bayer is headquartered in Leverkusen, with several others firms including LANXESS, and Covestro also operating plants in the area.

Front page picture: Smoke billowing from the Leverkusen chemicals park shortly after the explosion
Source: Sascha Steinbach/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Clarification: recasts site operators in paragraph six