Rescuers search for 5 missing workers at German blast site

BERLIN — Rescue teams successful occidental Germany searched for 5 missing workers Wednesday astatine an concern parkland for chemic companies a time aft an detonation killed astatine slightest 2 radical and injured 31 others.

The Tuesday detonation astatine the discarded absorption installation of the Chempark tract sent a ample achromatic unreality of fume into the aerial and ignited a occurrence that took firefighters astir 4 hours to extinguish. The concern parkland is located successful the metropolis of Leverkusen, adjacent Cologne.

The CEO of Currenta, which operates the Chempark concern park, said determination was small anticipation for the 5 missing workers — 4 Currenta employees and 1 extracurricular contractor.

“We person to presume that the missing radical tin nary longer beryllium recovered alive,” Frank Hyldmar told reporters successful Leverkusen. He added that of the 31 injured, 1 idiosyncratic was inactive successful a life-threatening condition.

Police said Wednesday that investigations into the origin of the detonation would statesman Thursday, the German quality bureau dpa reported. So far, it appeared that the blast was linked to retention tanks filled with solvents.

Due to the heavy smoke, authorities told residents Tuesday to enactment indoors and unopen down respective large highways for hours. City officials besides warned radical not to fto children play outside, usage extracurricular pools oregon devour effect and vegetables from their backyards for the adjacent fewer days.

The biology authorization for the authorities of North Rhine-Westphalia, wherever Leverkusen is located, said Wednesday that the explosion’s fume contained dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyl and furan compounds. However, it could not yet accidental however beardown the attraction of these chemicals were, dpa reported.

Leverkusen is location to Bayer, 1 of Germany’s biggest chemic companies and 1 of the biggest employers successful the region. The metropolis has astir 163,000 residents, galore of whom enactment for Bayer.

The concern parkland is located adjacent to the Rhine River.