Tuesday, July 27, 2021

ECOCIDE
Explosion at chemical complex shakes German city
A dark cloud of smoke rises into the air in Leverkusen, Germany (Mirko Wolf/dpa via AP)

TUE, 27 JUL, 2021 - 11:13
ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTERS

An explosion at an industrial park for chemical companies shook the German city of Leverkusen on Tuesday, sending a large black cloud rising into the air.

Germany’s Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance classified the explosion as “an extreme threat” and asked residents to stay inside and keep windows and doors closed, German news agency dpa reported.


Operators of the Chempark site in Leverkusen, about 13 miles north of Cologne on the Rhine river, said the cause of the explosion was unclear.

They said on Twitter that firefighters and pollution detection vans had been deployed.

A dark cloud of smoke rises above the Chempark in Leverkusen, Germany (Oliver Berg/dpa via AP)

Police in nearby Cologne said they did not have any information on the cause or size of the explosion and were not aware of any injuries at this point, but that a large number of police and ambulances had been deployed to the scene.

They asked all residents to stay inside and warned people from outside of Leverkusen to avoid the region.

They also shut down several nearby major roads.

Daily Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger reported that the explosion took place in the Buerrig neighbourhood at a rubbish incineration plant of the chemical park.

The paper reported that the smoke cloud was moving in a north-western direction toward the towns of Burscheid and Leichlingen.

It said firefighters from all over the region had been called in to help extinguish the fire.

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