Blast at BASF Plant Kills One, Injures at Least Six
October 17 2016 - 12:21PM
Dow Jones News
By Monica Houston-Waesch
FRANKFURT-- BASF SE said one person was confirmed dead, at least
six were seriously injured and another six were missing after an
explosion and resulting fires at its Ludwigshafen plant complex on
Monday, prompting the chemical company to power down 14 facilities
there.
BASF said the cause of the blast was unknown, but that it took
place at 0920 GMT during work on a pipeline system at the factory
complex in Ludwigshafen, the company's headquarters. Firefighters
remain at the scene working to douse the flames, BASF and city
officials said at a press briefing.
"There is visible smoke. Residents in the affected areas of
Ludwigshafen and Mannheim have been asked to stay indoors and to
keep doors and windows shut," BASF said.
"We deeply regret that one employee has died and several others
are injured. Our sympathies are with the victims and their
families," BASF's Ludwigshafen factory director Uwe Liebelt
said.
Earlier, BASF said it was powering down its steamcracker, and at
the briefing Mr. Liebelt said 14 facilities were shut down "for
safety reasons."
A BASF spokeswoman later said both of the complex's cracker
facilities, the starting point for production lines of various
products, were shut down. It remains unclear if the cracker
operations and productions lines can be restarted on Tuesday, she
said.
"We hope that we can finish putting out the fires this evening
so that we can resolve the uncertainty regarding the missing
employees," Peter Friedrich, Ludwigshafen's fire chief said.
BASF shares close down 1.2% at EUR78.28 ($85.86).
Write to Monica Houston-Waesch at nikki.houston@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 17, 2016 12:06 ET (16:06 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
BASF (QX) (USOTC:BASFY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
BASF (QX) (USOTC:BASFY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024