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Mobile phone videos show how clouds of smoke rise over the Leverkusen district of Bürrig in the morning.
On Tuesday there was a huge explosion in the area of the Chempark Leverkusen, the cause of which is still unexplained, in the area of a hazardous waste incineration plant.
At least one person was killed and four more are still missing.
The Federal Office for Civil Protection announced the highest warning level.
The operating company Currenta asked residents to go to closed rooms and to close windows and doors.
Mirko Wolf / dpa / tnn
»A big, strong, dark cloud of smoke is moving here over northern Leverkusen. There are measuring vehicles of the fire brigade driving around here. There are loudspeaker announcements warning the population. There may also be a lot of injuries because several helicopters landed here. There are ambulances in the entrance area of the Chempark. The situation is unclear at the moment. "
A large number of fire brigade, rescue workers and police are on site.
There are massive traffic obstructions because the motorway junction Leverkusen-West and the A1 between the motorway junction Leverkusen and Cologne-North were completely blocked.