ROTTERDAM – A fire and explosion at a Shell Chemical Refinery in the Netherlands had fire crews and rescue workers scrambling on Tuesday night.
In a statement Shell comments, “Shell regrets that last night an incident has occurred on our site chemistry Shell Moerdijk.
These are raw materials for plastics. The plant was temporarily out of service for routine maintenance”.
The explosion was observed for miles around and the fire was highly visible. It has led to discomfort and anxiety among residents and employees, and we regret very much.
Authorities and emergency services were alerted immediately.
These were quickly on the spot to fight the fire. The mayor of Moerdijk has scaled up the situation immediately. The fire around 6:00 am this morning gave the signal fire chief.
The extinguishing water is tonight checked collected in the reservoir for this purpose on the premises of Shell Moerdijk. Also, measurements of the air quality. Mayor Klijs was on an overnight news conference to announce that no harmful concentrations are measured in the air.
The other facilities at Shell Moerdijk presently running according to plan.
Local residents were continuously informed last night by regional news and websites of the municipality of Moerdijk and Shell.
Crews raced to the fire that broke out after a number of explosions at the Moerdijk plant.
Plumes of smoke could be seen from as far away as 30 kilometres.
Fortunately, only two people suffered minor injuries.
The cause of the blast and fire are still unknown.
