One dead and four people missing: this is the provisional assessment provided by the German authorities after the explosion of a waste plant in the west of the country, in Leverkusen.
The accident, the origin of which remains unknown, occurred on Tuesday around 9.40 a.m. on the site of the Currenta company, which manages waste storage and an incinerator.
Immediately after the explosion, a thick plume of black smoke rose into the sky, visible for miles around. The authorities immediately asked the population to stay at home, "in closed rooms" as a precaution. The event was classified as "extreme danger" by the national disaster alert application Nina. The storage site and the incineration plant are located on the edge of the Chempark industrial park, which brings together companies from the chemical sector, one of the largest of its kind in Europe.
According to the manager of the Currenta plant, 16 other people were injured, two of them seriously. "We are deeply moved by this tragic accident and the death of an employee," company management said in a statement. If the fire could be brought under control after several hours after the intervention of the firefighters, the rescue operations are still continuing "to try to find the four missing", added the company.