Chemical tank rupture kills multiple people in US state of Washington

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - PORTLAND — A chemical tank has ruptured at a paper and packaging facility in the US state of Washington, reportedly killing several people and critically injuring others, authorities said.

At least one person has been confirmed dead and nine people were injured while nine employees remain unaccounted for after a large vat of chemical treatment product, including hazardous materials, ruptured at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility in Longview, fire officials said. Officials previously said the tank imploded.

There is no threat to the surrounding community, officials said, while advising people to avoid the area.

Emergency responders on Tuesday remained at the site in Cowlitz County, about 70km (45 miles) north of Portland, Oregon, the Longview Fire Department said in a joint written statement with Nippon and the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Department.

The scene remains active but recovery and stabilization efforts remain “extremely complex” due to ongoing safety hazards, said Scott Goldstein, fire chief of Cowlitz 2 Fire Rescue at a news conference Tuesday night.

Multiple patients who suffered from chemical burns and other injuries were transported to nearby hospitals.

The joint statement said that officials “can confirm fatalities related to the incident” along with “multiple critical injuries”, but did not provide figures.

At least nine workers and one firefighter were taken to hospitals from the site, said Scott Goldstein, the Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue chief who was among those who responded. The number of deaths was “undetermined”, he said at a news conference.

PeaceHealth St John Medical Center in Longview told ABC News it had seen nine patients related to the incident, including one who had died. Six of the patients were in fair condition, and two other patients had been transferred to other facilities, the hospital told ABC.

The injured include eight employees and one firefighter, who has since been treated and released, fire officials said.

The joint statement said that a tank containing “white liquor”, a chemical solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used in the production of paper pulp, had ruptured at about 7:15am local time (14:15 GMT).

Goldstein said at the news conference that the 80,000-gallon (about 300,000-litre) tank was approximately 60 percent full.

While officials originally said the tank had capacity to hold 80,000 gallons and was roughly 60% full, they later said the tank held over 10 times that amount of white liquor – approximately 900,000 gallons. Roughly 90,000 gallons of material may remain inside the damaged tank, they said.

The accident is the latest in a spate of incidents at industrial facilities, mills and plants in recent months, some of which have also been deadly.

Just this past week, officials raced to prevent an overheating chemical tank in California from exploding, prompting tens of thousands of residents to evacuate until pressure in the tank was reduced, eliminating the risk of a catastrophic blast.

In April, a chemical leak involving nitric acid and another substance at a West Virginia plant killed two people and injured over a dozen others, The Associated Press reported.