|
|
Entries for May 2003
Saturday
May 31 |
Denmark - A Chinese cargo ship sank after colliding with another vessel. Before the ship sank, 2 explosions were heard which might have been caused by a chemical reaction between fertilizer on board and sea water. The 27 crew members were rescued. The cause of the accident is not known at this time. More information |
Friday
May 30 |
Piti, Guam - Fuel oil leaked from an exposed pipe that once fed a navy power plant. The Guam Power Authority detected the spill while conducting a routine check of the pipeline. More information |
Friday
May 30 |
Wolverhampton, UK - A road was closed for more than 4 hours after a drum containing acetic acid fell off a truck, split and started leaking. People living in 2 nearby homes were evacuated. A spokesman said the incident happened when the truck driver was forced to brake sharply to avoid a car. More information |
Friday
May 30 |
Indianapolis, IN - A fire that started when workers were welding steel to support a heating and cooling system was brought under control 40 minutes after it started. The workers told firefighters the fire started when debris was ignited during the welding and spread to roofing insulation. More information |
Friday
May 30 |
Pennsdale, PA - Three people were injured in an explosion at a manufacturing plant. The explosion caused a fire that resulted in thousands of dollars of damage to the plant The cause is not yet known. More information |
Friday
May 30 |
Muscatine, IA - A spokesman said high winds and coal dust may have been responsible for a fire at a coal burning plant. No one working at the plant was injured, but a firefighter received minor injuries. More information |
Thursday
May 29 |
Orlando, FL - Twenty-four people were evacuated from a business after noxious fumes resulted when an employee mixed an acid with a base that could be dangerous. More information |
Thursday
May 29 |
Salt Lake City, UT - An ammonia leak at an ice cream plant caused a vapor cloud that killed fish in retention ponds and went unreported for hours as workers tried to control it themselves. The leak resulted when a piece of equipment malfunctioned and a line was severed. More information |
Thursday
May 29 |
Hollister, CA - A small paper fire broke out at a facility and was quickly brought under control by employees, fire officials said. There were no injuries and the cause of the blaze is not clear. More information |
Wednesday
May 28 |
Deerfield Beach, FL - Ten workers were sent to the hospital after fumes from a thinner used to clean concrete floors forced the evacuation of the building. The incident occurred when workers applying thinner to the floor began complaining of problems breathing and vomiting. More information |
Tuesday
May 27 |
Delaware City, DE - A workplace accident released a small chlorine gas cloud at a chemical plant. The leak was estimated to have lasted 6 minutes. The chemical may have escaped from an open valve during maintenance work, a spokesman said. More information |
Monday
May 26 |
Chechnya, Russia - A natural gas pipeline explosion forced independent producer to halt deliveries. A plant spokesman said repairs would take at least 4 days. More information |
Sunday
May 25 |
Miami, FL - Four people were killed and 15 injured in an explosion and fire in the boiler room of a docked cruise ship. The cruise ship had passed federal inspection 10 days earlier. More information |
Friday
May 23 |
Fire crews responded to a tank fire which was holding about 4 feet of asphalt. Crews used steam to put out the fire because water makes the asphalt expand which could have caused more damage. The cause of the blaze is unknown. More information |
Friday
May 23 |
Bellville, South Africa - A large fire at a chemical storage facility burned for 5 hours before being brought under control. A spokesman said the fire was confined to a store for hazardous and flammable substances and had not spread to the rest of the facility. More information |
Thursday
May 22 |
Sala, Sweden - Two people were killed and 3 injured when a military gasoline depot exploded. Authorities said the cause of the blast is not certain, but the building may have been hit by lightning. More information |
Thursday
May 22 |
New Delhi, India - Sources reported that a major fire broke out in 3 chemical factories. More information |
Wednesday
May 21 |
Hebei province, China - Six people were killed and 15 injured in an explosion at a chemical plant. The explosion occurred when a reaction tower exploded and collapsed, triggering a blaze in a nearby warehouse. More information |
Wednesday
May 21 |
Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Thirteen people were injured in a fire at a garment factory after the four-story building they were working in collapsed. Authorities said most of the workers had left the factory when an explosion caused by a power surge started the fire and destroyed the factory and 5 homes. More information |
Tuesday
May 20 |
Northern Kedah state, Malaysia - Fifty-five student and staff of three schools were given medical treatment after being exposed to an anhydrous ammonia leak from a nearby fertilizer plant. More information |
Tuesday
May 20 |
Erlanger, KY - One worker was injured in an explosion at a candy factory. According to reports, the worker was in a plant silo room where candy ingredients are stored when the explosion occurred. Officials said the silo contained maltodextrin which is highly combustible. More information |
Monday
May 19 |
Bangkok, Thailand - A large amount of formalin leaked from a truck transporting it along a crowded street. The truck was finally stopped by police who spotted the leakage. The spill was contained and cleaned up and there were no reports of injuries. More information |
Monday
May 19 |
Claycomo, MT - About 500 gallons of gasoline spilled onto the floor of an automotive plant after a float in a gasoline holding tank malfunctioned. Hazmat crews were called in to help with the cleanup. No injuries were reported. More information |
Monday
May 19 |
Rourkela, India - One person died and two sustained severe burns when a mixture of hot metal and slag splashed out while being poured into a converter of a steel plant. More information |
Sunday
May 18 |
Kola Peninsula, Russia - An automatic safety valve system shut down a nuclear reactor at a power plant but there was no radiation leak. Unofficial sources said the shutdown occurred after an unexpected frequency shift in the grid. More information |
Sunday
May 18 |
Wilmington, CA - A small fire in an alkylation unit heater at a refinery was quickly extinguished and there was no release of hazardous chemicals and no injuries were reported. Officials said the cause of the fire is under investigation. More information |
Sunday
May 18 |
Two plant employees were injured in a fire at a food plant. Firefighters encountered heavy smoke but were able to locate the fire. According to officials, the cause of the fire is under investigation but is believed to have been caused by welding work done the day before. More information |
Saturday
May 17 |
Geelong, Australia - Three men were injured when a boiler exploded on a ship ship. The explosion started a fire in the engine room. The three workers received burns to the head and face. More information |
Wednesday
May 14 |
New South Wales, Australia - A truck carrying unspecified industrial chemicals overturned on a highway. The chemicals spilled from the truck and started a fire. The truck driver received minor injuries. More information |
Wednesday
May 14 |
Louisville, KY - Almost 100 workers were evacuated after an ammonia leak was discovered in a bakery. More information |
Monday
May 12 |
India, Mubai coast - an oil tanker loaded with naphtha sank after it collided with another ship. All crewmembers were rescued. More information |
Sunday
May 11 |
Singapore - A sailor was killed in a fire and explosion aboard a Korean chemical tanker. A spokesman said the incident aboard the ship occurred while the vessel was lifting its anchor after refuelling. The explosion occurred in a store room at the front of the vessel. The ship crew extinguished the fire. More information |
Sunday
May 11 |
Kunming, China - Five people died and one was seriously injured in an explosion at a chemical plant. Plant officials said that they thought the explosion was caused by industrial chemicals overheating in a closed vessel. The blast destroyed 4 workshops. More information |
Saturday
May 10 |
Tipton, UK - An arson attack on a factory caused the evacuation of hundreds of families after the blaze threatened a neighboring housing estate. The arsonists set fire to 2 large tanks holding liquid propane gas. More information |
Saturday
May 10 |
Ludhiana, India - Nine people died and at least 90 suffered burn injuries due to a blast in a hosiery factory. The blast followed a cooking gas cylinder explosion. A fire tender had taken care of the fire and 5 firemen, a few policemen and about 50 people were standing around when a second blast occurred. More information |
Friday
May 09 |
Clearcreek Township, OH - A leak from a propane gas pipeline prompted the evacuation of 70 homes and a high school. Officials said a vapor cloud formed in the area of the leak. No injuries were reported. More information |
Friday
May 09 |
Portland, OR - Firefighters shut down a metal plating business after a routine inspection found barrels filled with sodium cyanide and hydrochloric acid in various exposed conditions. Inspectors said the company had been storing toxic liquids and powders in corroded barrels. More information |
Thursday
May 08 |
Grand Forks, SD - Three workers were injured after hot sugar juice spilled from a ruptured expansion joint at a sugar factory. More information |
Wednesday
May 07 |
Reventador river, Ecuador - A pipeline damaged by a landslide caused 5,600 barrels of crude oil to be dumped into a river. Officials said repairs would take approximately 6 days. More information |
Monday
May 05 |
Elsdorf, Germany - One person was injured at an aggregate company when a grenade exploded in a rock crushing machine. It is thought that the grenade was in excavated material dumped at the site many years ago. More information |
Monday
May 05 |
Agra, India - Two children of a chemical factory guard were burned to death when the factory caught fire. Fire brigades battled the fire for several hours before it was brought under control. Seven other people received burn injuries and were admitted to the hospital. More information |
Sunday
May 04 |
Gdansk, Poland - Four people died after the explosion of a barge loaded with gasoline. The explosion occurred at an oil refinery in northern Poland. More information |
Saturday
May 03 |
Stockton, UT - Nerve-agent disposol operations were shut down after a detection alarm sounded at a chemical agent disposal facility. No danger was reported. More information |
Friday
May 02 |
Azumamura, Japan - Several thousand liters of hydrochloric acid spilled onto a highway after a tanker truck crashed into a parked truck. The driver of the tanker truck was injured. More information |
Thursday
May 01 |
Turnu Magurele, Romania - Ammonia fumes from a fertilizer plant affected residents of Nikopol. Officials said the plant had suspended operations. More information |
|