It is only slowly possible for the emergency services to investigate the location of the huge detonation in Leverkusen. They find more dead in the ruins – and there may be more.
Leverkusen – Sad certainty after anxious hours: two days after the devastating explosion in a Leverkusen waste incineration plant, emergency services found three other people dead in the rubble. This was announced by the Cologne public prosecutor and the police.
The number of now confirmed fatalities increased to five. Two other people are still missing – but the hope of finding them alive is vanishingly small.
The investigative authorities had previously been able to examine the detonation site in the Chempark – an area with chemical companies – in more detail. Together with an expert from the public prosecutor’s office, a “first inspection of the accident site” was taking place, a spokesman for the Cologne public prosecutor’s office said in the morning – at least as long as it was not contaminated or in danger of collapsing.
The cause of the accident remains unclear
The Cologne police spoke of a “puzzle work” on the devastated area. It is unlikely that the cause of the accident can be found out immediately. Drones should also be used. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating suspicion of negligent homicide and negligent causing of an explosive against unknown persons. She wants to find out whether human errors led to the disaster.
Shortly after the detonation on Tuesday morning, which could still be felt many kilometers away, rescue workers had already found a person dead at the scene of the accident. A little later one of the seriously injured died in the hospital. Investigators made arrangements for possible identification of bodies. They intended to “take DNA samples from relatives of the missing as a precaution,” said a spokesman for the Cologne public prosecutor’s office.
Analysis of the released substances – no result yet
Around the site of the accident, residents are still anxiously waiting for the results of an analysis of the substances released in the fire. According to information from Chempark operator Currenta, tanks in which “organic solvents” were stored burned after the explosion. Many small soot particles fell on Leverkusen.
The city advised its citizens not to eat fruit or vegetables from the garden when the dust has accumulated on them. The North Rhine-Westphalian State Environment Agency (LANUV) promised a result of its investigations for 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.
The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach, to whose constituency Leverkusen belongs, demanded “clarification as quickly as possible” how much dioxin or PCB had been released. “In particular, children’s toys in the garden, bicycles and other things have to be washed thoroughly,” he appealed to the “Rheinische Post”. dpa
