A blast at a chemical plant cloaked a
region in northern Spain in a huge orange toxic cloud on Thursday,
according to local reports. Three at the plant some 30 miles from the
city of Barcelona were injured in the explosion, which also forced some
60,000 people in the surrounding communities to remain confined indoors
for hours, La Verdad newspaper reported.
The explosion at the
installation owned by Simar — which distributes and stores chemicals,
according to its website — occurred at 9:45 a.m. (3:45 a.m. ET), the
newspaper reported. Company officials were not immediately available for
comment.
Officials ordered school and university students to remain indoors and said parents should not pick them up, news website 20 Minutes reported.
Pregnant women, children, the elderly and those with respiratory
problems were told to remain indoors even after the general warning was
lifted, according to La Verdad.
The blast appeared to
have been caused by two chemicals coming into contact during delivery to
the plant, the regional government of Catalonia said in a statement,
Reuters reported.
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