(Picture: Cowlitz County News)
Multiple workers are dead with more feared missing after an implosion at a paper mill.
At least ten people were injured when the vat of chemicals ruptured, causing ‘mass casualties’ at Nippon Dynawave factory in Washington, authorities said.
Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein later told a news conference that it was unclear how many workers had been killed in the implosion at 7.15am on Tuesday.
A firefighter responding to the scene is believed to be one of those injured.
Asked how many remained missing, Goldstein replied: ‘We have information on that, but we’re not releasing that information.’
Authorities said some victims had suffered burns or inhalation injuries, and that the severity of the injuries ranged from minor to critical.
There was no immediate threat to the public, they added.
The statement said crews were continuing recovery operations and that no identifying information would be released about victims pending notification of relatives.
Some people waited at the company’s visitor entrance on Tuesday, seeking information about loved ones who worked at the facility. They declined to comment to reporters.
The Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility is a pulp and paper mill and liquid packaging plant along the Columbia River.
It makes material for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates, cartons and other goods. It employs about 1,000 people, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology.
The 303,000-litre tank that imploded was about 60% full, Goldstein said.
It contained a chemical brew known as ‘white liquor,’ a corrosive substance that consists mainly of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide and is used to break down wood to make kraft paper, a durable paper used in packaging and shopping bags.
It was too early to determine the cause of the implosion, Goldstein said.
‘We’re dealing with life safety concerns and incident stabilization at this point,’ he said.
Mike Gorsuch, battalion chief with the fire department in Longview, Washington, described it as a ‘mass casualty scene’.
He said first responders had decontaminated patients and taken them to hospitals in Longview and Vancouver, Washington.
About 40 firefighters and paramedics had responded, along with a regional hazmat team, Gorsuch said.
Following the tank’s rupture, the white liquor spilled into a drainage ditch, a state Ecology Department spokesperson said. The department sent a team to evaluate the impacts.
Thousands of residents of southern California remained evacuated on Tuesday due to a damaged chemical tank at an aerospace plant.