Explosion at Dutch chemical plant

5 August 2004

AMSTERDAM — One person was slightly injured when a boiler at a chemical plant in a southern Dutch town exploded on Thursday morning.

The explosion caused the partial collapse of a roof at the factory shortly after 11am and a large fire broke out. There was also a second explosion at a storage unit, a spokesperson for Bergeijk town council told news agency ANP.

One person reportedly suffered slight injuries and two other people had breathing difficulties.

Police and firefighters sealed off the area around the Diffutherm facility and brought the blaze under control. The company makes glue, cleaning and anti-rust products.

Officials used the local broadcaster Omroep Brabant to ask residents living near the chemical plant to keep the doors and windows of their homes closed.

But it later emerged no dangerous gases or substances were released by the fire.

Last Friday, 18 people died and scores were injured when a high pressure gas pipeline exploded in southern Belgium.

Emergency workers were scrambled to Heist-op-den-Berg in Antwerp province on Wednesday afternoon to stem another major gas leak.

Subject: Dutch news