Inside a vinegar plant, a 150-m³ tank containing 38.5 m³ of an alcohol vinegar mixture exploded around 9:40 am. The 3,000-m² site had been in activity start-up mode, but engineering works were still underway. The tank bottom became detached from the shell. It’s upper part, measuring 13 m high, 4 m in diameter and weighing some 3.5 tonnes, was projected upwards, by missile effect. It perforated the building roof and landed 80 m away on a rail line. Two subcontractors were injured, one sustaining serious burns. Both required hospitalization. Fire-fighters extinguished a fire outbreak in the company offices, most likely due to a compromised electrical installation. Nearby rail traffic
was suspended. The vinegar spilled on the floor and was collected in the site’s retention basin. The building adjacent to the tank was severely damaged and at risk of collapse. The neighboring tanks, not fastened to the ground, were deformed either by the explosion blast or subsequent to striking one another. A 42-m² opening was visible in the siding near the tank. The projection through the roof left a 20-m² hole.