Explosion in north-eastern Spain triggers chemical emergency
A massive explosion has hit an industrial zone for chemicals in north-eastern Spain, leading the regional emergency services agency to warn people nearby not to go outside.
A tweet by emergency services for the Catalonia region called the blast in the port city of Tarragona a “chemical accident”, and said no information on possible deaths or injuries was available.
The service advised residents in parts of the city, with a population of 800,000, and in nearby towns to close their windows and to refrain from going outside as preventive measures.
The explosion led to a fire, the regional service said, while fire departments sent 10 brigades to the area.
Local residents posted videos showing the aftermath of the blast, with flames and a big column of black smoke emerging from an area dotted with big industrial tanks.
Some local residents told Tarragona Radio that the blast could be heard from miles away.
Tarragona is located 70 miles south west of Barcelona, the regional capital of Spain’s Catalonia region.
Since 2015, the city has housed a 1,200-hectare “chemical hub”, ChemMed, that was described as the largest of its kind in southern Europe.
