The death toll from a chemical spill and tank implosion at a paper manufacturing plant in Washington state has risen to 11 after rescue teams recovered the bodies of all nine workers who had been reported missing.
Authorities confirmed the development on Saturday following several days of intensive search and recovery operations at the facility in Longview.
According to emergency officials, a massive storage tank containing tens of thousands of gallons of a highly caustic chemical substance imploded on Tuesday, triggering a major emergency response.
“We have recovered the ninth and final missing employee of this incident,” Longview Fire Department Chief Brad Hannig told a news conference.
Rescuers had earlier reported that two people were killed immediately following the incident, while nine others remained unaccounted for.
The accident occurred at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company during an early morning shift change when a 900,000-gallon (3.4 million-litre) tank ruptured.
The tank contained a large quantity of white liquor, a highly alkaline chemical solution used in the paper-making process.
White liquor contains sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphide and is commonly used to break down wood chips into pulp for paper production.
The plant is operated by Nippon Dynawave Packaging, a subsidiary of Nippon Paper Group.
According to information published by the company, the facility produces approximately eight billion single-serve containers annually for customers across North America, Asia and other global markets.
Authorities have not yet released details regarding the cause of the tank failure, while investigations into the incident remain ongoing.
Authorities confirmed the development on Saturday following several days of intensive search and recovery operations at the facility in Longview.
According to emergency officials, a massive storage tank containing tens of thousands of gallons of a highly caustic chemical substance imploded on Tuesday, triggering a major emergency response.
“We have recovered the ninth and final missing employee of this incident,” Longview Fire Department Chief Brad Hannig told a news conference.
Rescuers had earlier reported that two people were killed immediately following the incident, while nine others remained unaccounted for.
The accident occurred at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company during an early morning shift change when a 900,000-gallon (3.4 million-litre) tank ruptured.
The tank contained a large quantity of white liquor, a highly alkaline chemical solution used in the paper-making process.
White liquor contains sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphide and is commonly used to break down wood chips into pulp for paper production.
The plant is operated by Nippon Dynawave Packaging, a subsidiary of Nippon Paper Group.
According to information published by the company, the facility produces approximately eight billion single-serve containers annually for customers across North America, Asia and other global markets.
Authorities have not yet released details regarding the cause of the tank failure, while investigations into the incident remain ongoing.