The death toll from the industrial accident in Washington state has risen to eleven after the bodies of nine people who had been missing for several days were found. US authorities confirmed Saturday that all the victims have now been located at the site of the affected factory.
The tragedy occurred Tuesday in Longview, when a tank containing "white liquor" imploded at the factory operated by Nippon Dynawave Packaging. Two deaths were confirmed immediately after the accident, while rescue teams continued their search for the other missing workers.
"White liquor" is a chemical solution composed primarily of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, used in the paper pulp manufacturing process. According to authorities, the damaged tank contained approximately 3,4 million liters of this product at the time of the incident.
Search and recovery operations continued throughout the week under difficult conditions. Rescuers combed the rubble inside the industrial complex and used drones to inspect the most dangerous areas of the site. Local authorities finally announced that they had located the nine missing victims.
Analyses conducted after the accident confirmed that contamination had reached the Columbia River, located near the plant. Officials stated, however, that no harmful effects had been detected on air quality or the drinking water distributed to Longview residents.
The mill belongs to Nippon Paper Industries, Japan's second-largest paper manufacturer by revenue. The group acquired the Longview site in 2016 for $225 million from the American company Weyerhaeuser. An investigation is underway to determine the exact causes of this industrial disaster, one of the deadliest to hit the region in recent years.
Community
Comments
Comments are open, but protected against spam. Initial posts and comments containing links undergo manual review.
Be the first to comment on this article.