[4][2], A few months before the incident, the manufacturing process had been changed in such a way as to lower the humidity level of the mixture from 3–4% to 2%, and also to lower the apparent density. BASF SE (IW 1000/39) said one employee died and at least six people were missing following an explosion and fire at the chemical maker’s main plant on the banks of the River Rhine in Germany. Farben. The Ludwigshafen synagogue was destroyed in 1938 and its Jewish population of 1,400 was deported in 1940. It had already been largely destroyed by aerial bombing. © 2020 Deutsche Welle | | Mobile version, an explosion at a BASF chemical plant in Ludwigshafen. Eight people were critically injured - including the now deceased BASF fireman - and another 22 people were slightly injured. Our deepest sympathy is with their families and … The Oppau explosion occurred on September 21, 1921, when approximately 4,500 tonnes of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer stored in a tower silo exploded at a BASF plant in Oppau, now part of Ludwigshafen, Germany, killing 500–600 people and injuring about 2,000 more. About 80 percent of all buildings in Oppau were destroyed, leaving 6,500 homeless. It took firefighters 10 hours to extinguish the resulting blaze. Four people were killed and several others were injured following an explosion and subsequent fire at the North Harbor section of the complex in October 2016. [9], Coordinates: 49°31′04″N 8°25′06″E / 49.51778°N 8.41833°E / 49.51778; 8.41833, (slides for a talk given at UKELG (United Kingdom Explosion Liaison Group), Loughborough University), Learn how and when to remove this template message, Largest artificial non-nuclear explosions, "A factual clarification and chemical-technical reassessment of the 1921 Oppau explosion disaster - the unforeseen explosivity of porous ammonium sulfate nitrate fertilizer", "Risk and safety management of ammonium nitrate fertilizers: keeping the memory of disasters alive", "French Ministry of Environment, Explosion in a nitrogenous fertiliser plant, ARIA 14373", "Ammonium Nitrate: Fertiliser, Oxidiser and Tertiary Explosive, A Review of Ammonium Nitrate Safety Issues based on Incidents, Research and Experience in the Safety Field", "A factual clarification and chemical-technical reassessment of the 1921 Oppau explosion disaster – the unforeseen explosivity of porous ammonium sulfate nitrate fertilizer", "JUSTICE NOT BLIND IN GERMAN COURTS; Old Uniforms and Titles Protect Offenders Against Laws of the Republic. The explosion and the fire happened along the pipelines that connect BASF’s ; Ebert Expresses Appreciation of French Sympathy", "Photograph: The Devastation Caused By Explosion In Dye Works At Oppau, Germany", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oppau_explosion&oldid=990375739, Articles needing additional references from September 2016, All articles needing additional references, Articles lacking reliable references from August 2020, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2017, Articles with German-language sources (de), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 24 November 2020, at 03:18. The plant began producing ammonium sulfate in 1911, but during World War I when Germany was unable to obtain the necessary sulfur, it began to produce ammonium nitrate as well. LONDON (ICIS)--A German court on Tuesday began hearing charges related to the 2016 explosion at BASF’s Ludwigshafen petrochemicals production hub that ended up killing five people and injuring 44.. [4][2], As all involved died in the explosion, the causes are not clear. In 2016, a subcontractor at BASF's site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, caused a gas explosion during welding work. At BASF’s Ludwigshafen site, some 8,000 sales products are produced with a total volume of 8.5 million metric tons per year from just a few raw materials, such as naphtha, rock salt and sulfur. At least two people have been killed and another two are missing after an explosion at German chemical company BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen. A large fraction of BASF's sales consist of chemicals and production materials for other industries, including construction, pharmaceutical, textile, and automobile industries. Più di 39.000 collaboratori lavorano presso la sede centrale di BASF a Ludwigshafen (sul Reno) nella Germania sudoccidentale. With its six Verbund sites and 347 additional production sites, BASF supports customers and partners in more than 80 countries. The company's 2014 research budget was around 1.8 billion euros. The company invests heavily in research - for example in organic solar cells (pictured). Farben's then-HQ in Frankfurt (Main). BASF's product range is huge: Paints and varnishes, styrofoam, insulation materials, medicines, light stabilizers, vehicle battery materials, adhesives and more. READ UPDATE HERE. The workers needed to use pickaxes to get it out, a problematic situation because they could not enter the silo and risk being buried in collapsing fertilizer. A firefighter has died after being injured in the October 17 blast at a BASF chemical plant in southwest Germany. Barriers have been set up between the harbor and the Rhine. The October 17 fire occurred at a river harbor used to unload flammable liquids and liquid gas. On Monday, October 17, 2016, there was an explosion and subsequent fires at the North Harbor at BASF’s site in Ludwigshafen. [4][5][better source needed]. "I am deeply concerned, that another employee has died as a result of the accident," said BASF CEO Kurt Bock in the statement. With an area of approximately ten square kilometres the Ludwigshafen Verbund site is the world’s largest integrated chemical complex. Few people know, for example, that BASF is not only the world's biggest chemical industry company, but also one of Germany's biggest wine sellers. Engelhorn decided to found BASF to produce tar-based and aniline dyes for the textile industry. The cellars of the wine sales subsidiary, more than 100 years old, feature more than 2,000 different wines. Twitter user Stefan Rinke tweeted: "Nearby #basf big explosion in Oppau district in #ludwigshafen" (translated). Ludwigshafen/Germany — On Monday, October 17, 2016, there was an explosion and subsequent fires at the North Harbor in Ludwigshafen. Both these factors rendered the substance more likely to explode. Sales in 2014 amounted to a hefty 74.3 billion euros ($79.9 billion). Initially, BASF focused mostly on making plastics. During the first world war, BASF produced explosives, gunpowder, and poison gas for the German military. Over the decades that followed, BASF broadened its product range and built more and more production facilities around the world. Contact The pressure wave caused great damage in Mannheim, located just across the Rhine, ripped roofs off up to 25 km away, and destroyed windows farther away, including all the medieval stained-glass windows of Worms cathedral, 15 km (9.3 mi) to the north. Chemical company BASF says several people have been injured in an explosion at a … Ammonia could be produced without overseas resources, using the Haber process, and the plant was the first of its kind to do so in the world. Germany Ludwigshafen residents not in danger from BASF chemical plant explosion. It became a global company. Pictured: I.G. BASF has more than 390 production sites around the world. On 28 July 1948, an explosion occurred at a BASF site in Ludwigshafen, killing 207 people and injuring 3818. The death toll from an explosion at a BASF chemical plant in Ludwigshafen earlier this month rose to four on Saturday, the chemical giant said in a statement. The accident had a major impact, affecting more than 20 plants at the large site. The death toll from an explosion at a BASF chemical plant in Ludwigshafen earlier this month rose to four on Saturday, the chemical giant said in a statement. A memorial service for the victims is set to take place on Sunday. Carl Wurster lead the Zyklon B production of Degesch. 17th Oct, 2016. Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft (I.G. Indeed, nothing extraordinary had happened during an estimated 20,000 firings, until the fateful explosion on September 21. The European economy pace of recovery after the first world war was rather slow. Farben). In 1952, BASF was refounded under its own name following the efforts of former Nazi Party member and Third Reich Wehrwirtschaftsführer (war economy leader) Carl Wurster. [clarification needed], Five hundred bodies were recovered within the first 48 hours,[8] with the final death toll recorded being in excess of 560 people. Firefighters are among the missing. BASF said earlier this week that the explosion was likely triggered by a contractor who mistakenly cut a wrong pipeline. "Our thoughts are with our deceased colleagues and his family.". In 1925, BASF fused with five other firms, including Hoechst and Bayer, to form I.G. I.G. The company sold about 900,000 bottles in 2013 alone. The company has 113,000 employees in more than 80 countries. Questo sito di ricerca e produzione offre molte opportunità di lavoro, di sviluppo e di crescita professionale. [4], Two months earlier, at Kriewald, then part of Germany, 19 people had died when 30 tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonated under similar circumstances. Increases in measured chemicals have not been observed in the Rhine, or in the air of Ludwigshafen or Mannheim. BASF SE (IW 1000/39) faces a prolonged shut-down at its biggest chemical site on the banks of the Rhine River in Germany following an explosion and fire that has left two dead and two still missing. NEW ARMY LACKS RECRUITS Force Said to Be Below 100,000 Mamimum [, "70,000 AT OPPAU FUNERALS. [4] In these explosions 10% of the 4,500 tonnes of fertilizer stored in the silo detonated. 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