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Entries for January 2003
Thursday
Jan 30 |
Norco, LA - A fire in a coker unit at a refinery shut down more than half the plant and caused minor injuries to 2 workers. The blaze started in a fractioner, a piece of equipment in the coker. The cause of the fire is not yet known. More information |
Thursday
Jan 30 |
Flint, MI - A truck hauling propane gas plunged from a freeway overpass and exploded into a huge fireball, killing the driver. The truck was westbound when it struck a set of guardrails. The truck skidded and rolled on its side over the overpass railing and fell 35 feet onto railroad tracks, a police spokesman said. More information |
Thursday
Jan 30 |
Ecorse, MI - A man died at a steel plant after chunks of ice crashed through a roof and struck him. A police spokesman said the man was walking between jobs when the ice fell and the roof collapsed on him. More information |
Wednesday
Jan 29 |
Green River, WY - A man was burned in a methanol flash fire while working on a well site. More information |
Wednesday
Jan 29 |
Kinston, NC - At least 3 people died and several more were injured when an explosion and fire rocked a pharmaceutical plant. The building was completely destroyed and the woods behind the building were set on fire after the explosion. The cause is not yet known. More information |
Wednesday
Jan 29 |
Marshville, NC - A mans arm was caught and crushed in equipment at a plant that recycles snack food into animal feed.. A spokesman said the accident came from a misunderstanding fueled by the workers newness to the job and language barriers. More information |
Tuesday
Jan 28 |
Baliara, India - At least 40 people died when a bus carrying 55 passengers collided with a truck carrying paint, solvents and other chemicals. More information |
Saturday
Jan 25 |
Johannesburg, South Africa - A major chemical explosion damaged 200 homes and several industrial plants in the area will probably have to be demolished. The explosion was caused by a fire which ignited chemicals kept at a fiberglass factory. More information |
Monday
Jan 20 |
Athens, Greece - A major fire broke out in the storage yard of the Kardasilaris dried fruit and nuts factory and spread to the buildings. The buildings were destroyed but there were no injuries. More information |
Saturday
Jan 18 |
Gero, Japan - Two people died when a tanker truck and a dump truck burst into flames after colliding head on near a tunnel entrance on a national highway. More information |
Tuesday
Jan 14 |
Deer Island, MA - Two workers were injured when a pocket of methane gas exploded in an building at a waste water treatment plant. The explosion occurred as they were cleaning pipes. More information |
Monday
Jan 13 |
Sandy Point, TX - Explosions and fire at an oil field waste storage killed two people and injured 5 others. A witness said the flames spread from two trucks, which had exploded, to oil floating on water in the area. More information |
Monday
Jan 13 |
Garyville, La - Fire broke out at a gasoline refinery but was out within 4 hours and no one was hurt. A spokesman said that the cause of the fire unknown. The fire broke out in the crude oil unit, the spokesman said. More information |
Saturday
Jan 11 |
Go Dau. Viet Nam - Eleven people were killed and 54 injured when a gas container and dryer exploded at a bamboo and rattan factory. The blast completely destroyed the drying factory. Police report that fumes from an unidentified chemical may have caused the explosion. More information |
Friday
Jan 10 |
Koyanovo, Russia - An explosion at a facility killed three workers during welding work at a crude waste collector. More information |
Thursday
Jan 09 |
Kuki, Saitama, Japan - Two workers died after their truck tipped over and burst into flames. The truck was loaded with 10 tons of molten slag when it tipped after turning right on an intersection. The burning waste spread to the trucks fuel tank and caught fire. More information |
Wednesday
Jan 08 |
Athanur Samathuvapuram, India - Two people died and three were injured when a truck carrying denatured alcohol collided head-on with another truck. A car following the truck also hit the tanker. More information |
Wednesday
Jan 08 |
Samara Region, Russia - forty-five workers were poisoned by an isoprene leak at a refinery. 27 were hospitalized and one has died, officials said. According to police reports, the incident was caused by a violation of technological procedure. More information |
Tuesday
Jan 07 |
Midlothian, TX - One person was killed and 3 injured when an explosion and fire erupted in a scrubber at a cement plant. The workers were contractors making repairs on the 2-year-old plant. More information |
Tuesday
Jan 07 |
Menasha, WI - An employee suffered minor injuries when static electricity ignited vapors and caused a flash fire at a chemical plant. An official said that a static electricity spark occurred while the employee was adding a bag of polymide to a solution of heptane and alcohol used to make ink. More information |
Tuesday
Jan 07 |
Fletcher, NC - About 200 employees were evacuated after a fire broke out in a plants dust collecting system. There were no injuries and firefighters worked inside the plant to extinguish the fire. A fire department spokesman said the fire was contained to a hopper used to collect metal shavings. Water could not be used on the fire because it would react with the metal. More information |
Monday
Jan 06 |
La Hague, France - A level-1 incident occurred at a nuclear waste vitrification plant. The incident was due to an excess volume of acid in a gas treatment unit. A leak of slightly radioactive liquid was contained. More information |
Sunday
Jan 05 |
Durban, South Africa - five people were taken to hospital after a gas leak at a pesticides factory. More information |
Sunday
Jan 05 |
Douglass, GA - Fire officials have yet to determine the cause of a blaze that severely damaged a warehouse used for storing fireplaces. Acetylene, propane and other chemicals stored in the warehouse fueled at least 4 explosions as the fire burned. There were no injuries reported. More information |
Saturday
Jan 04 |
Taizhou, China - Five people were killed in an explosion at a chemical factory. The blast destroyed the factory. No other injuries were reported. More information |
Saturday
Jan 04 |
West Midlands, UK - More than 50 firefighters fought a severe blaze after a rubber mixing machine burst into flames. The blaze also caused 500 liters of machine oil to leak. No one was hurt, but parts of the factory were evacuated and production of rubber was affected. More information |
Saturday
Jan 04 |
Springdale, AZ - A firefighter was injured while responding to a blaze at a processing plant after plastic materials caught fire in a smokestack, a fire official said. It was not clear how much damage the fire caused. The plant converts wood and plastic into a product that can be used as a wood substitute. More information |
Thursday
Jan 02 |
Gnadenhutten, OH - Four employees escaped when an explosion destroyed half of a large building housing a plastics plant. More information |
Wednesday
Jan 01 |
Herzliya, Israel - One person was seriously injured in an explosion that occurred at a plant when pressurized oxygen leaked. The cause of the leak was not clear. More information |
Wednesday
Jan 01 |
Abuchaab, Sush, Iran - Seven people were killed and 17 injured when fire swept though a pipeline. Initial reports indicate the fire was caused by leaking petrol. More information |
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