The huge explosion in a Leverkusen waste incineration plant continues to occupy emergency services and environmental analysts. The police are preparing for a complicated search for the cause.
Leverkusen – After the violent explosion in a Leverkusen waste incineration plant, salvage work continues at the site of the accident.
In addition to the search for those still missing, the question of the cause of the detonation is increasingly coming into focus. An investigation team was set up at the Cologne police. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating suspicion of negligent homicide and negligent causing of an explosive against unknown persons.
However, the investigators are preparing for difficult working conditions in the Leverkusen Chempark – the deployment will probably take several days. “Rescue workers and fire investigators can still only enter the site of the damage to a very limited extent,” the police said. Drones, for example, would be used to get an overview. However, the search for the missing has priority.
At least two people were killed in the Tuesday morning explosion. According to the Chempark operating company Currenta, 31 were injured. Five people are missing. The hope of finding survivors is minimal. “Unfortunately, we have to assume that we will not find the five missing people alive,” said Currenta boss Frank Hyldmar.
Cloud of smoke: analysis of the substances
The North Rhine-Westphalian State Environment Agency (LANUV) is now working on an analysis of the substances that were carried into the surrounding residential areas with the cloud of smoke after the explosion. “So far, no results are available from these investigations,” the environmental agency emphasized in the evening. Results are not expected until the end of the week.
In an initial assessment, the office assumed that it could have been “dioxin, PCB and furan compounds”. Basically it is the case that dioxins are produced in more or less high concentrations in every fire incident. How much the existing residues are contaminated with these substances will only be shown after the extensive evaluation.
Currenta had stated that after the detonation tanks burned with solvents. “Every fire and open fire creates potentially dangerous substances. Depending on what burns, the smoke can contain substances such as dioxin, PCB and furan compounds, ”says the company. In each individual case, however, the concentration of these substances is “decisive”.
After the fire, soot particles fell in Leverkusen. The city recommended its residents, pending final clarification, among other things, not to eat any fruit or vegetables from the garden on which particles had deposited. The soot should also not be carried into the apartments. If you urgently need to work in the garden, you should wear gloves as a precaution. dpa
