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LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AFP) — One person died and 16 people were injured Tuesday following an explosion at a chemical park in Leverkusen, Germany, the site operator said as residents were urged to stay indoors because of black smoke rising from the area. The blast happened at around 09:40 am (0740 GMT) “for still unknown reasons”, Chempark operator Currenta said. At least two of the injured were in a serious condition, and four workers were missing, […]
FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — Two people were seriously injured Tuesday in an explosion at a chemical park in Leverkusen, western Germany, the site’s operator said, as police urged residents to shelter indoors. “Several employees were injured in the incident, at least two of them seriously,” Chempark operator Currenta said in a statement. “Five employees are currently missing.” The blast happened at around 09:40 am (0740 GMT) “for still unknown reasons”, it said. The explosion could […]
CAEN, France (AFP) — Firefighters said Friday they have extinguished a huge blaze that broke out at a chemical factory in northern France and forced authorities to close schools and warn of pollution risks for the river Seine. The fire erupted early Thursday at a storage facility near the city of Rouen owned by Lubrizol, a manufacturer of industrial lubricants and fuel additives that is owned by the billionaire American investor Warren Buffett. No injuries […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Police have detained 17 more suspects connected to a chemical blast in eastern China last month which killed 78 and left hundreds injured, local authorities said Monday. The explosion in eastern Jiangsu province was one of the worst industrial accidents in the country in recent years and led to the closure of the plant. Police have taken “criminal coercive measures” against the 17 suspects, said the Yancheng city government on its […]
by Etienne Balmer Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – French pharmaceuticals group Sanofi announced late Monday an immediate halt in production at a chemical factory in southwest France, in the wake of media reports that toxic waste emissions exceeded the norms. “Sanofi Chemical has decided from today to stop production at its Mourenx site and to carry out the announced technical improvements needed to return to normal,” the group said in a brief statement. It […]
SYRIA (AFP) — Inspectors from the OPCW chemical watchdog will begin their investigation Sunday at the site of an alleged chemical attack near Damascus, a senior official said. “The fact-finding team arrived in Damascus on Saturday and is due to go to Douma on Sunday,” Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Soussan told AFP. A delegation of experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in The Hague, is tasked with investigating an […]
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) — At least six people died and several others were seriously injured in an explosion Thursday at a Czech chemical plant in the northern town of Kralupy-nad-Vltavou, fire fighters said. “We have received information about six dead and several others seriously injured,” regional fire fighter spokeswoman Vladimira Kerekova said, quoted by the CTK news agency. © Agence France-Presse
PARIS, France (AFP) – France will launch strikes if proof emerges that the Syrian regime has used banned chemical weapons against its civilians, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday. “We will strike the place where these launches are made or where they are organized,” Macron told the presidential press corps. “But today our services have not established proof that proscribed chemical weapons have been used against civilian populations,” he added. “As soon as such proof is established, […]
ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) – Swiss group Clariant on Monday said it planned to merge with US counterpart Huntsman to create a trans-Atlantic chemicals giant with a combined value of around $20 billion. The all-stock transaction — which Clariant said would be a “merger of equals” — was agreed by the boards of both companies. The combined entity would be called HuntsmanClariant, the Swiss group said in a statement. Clariant CEO Hariolf Kottmann described the […]
by Sammy Ketz and Rana Moussaoui Agence France Presse DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said a suspected chemical weapons attack was a “fabrication” to justify a US military strike, as Moscow digs in to defend its ally despite increasing strains with Washington. In an exclusive interview with AFP in Damascus — his first since the alleged April 4 attack prompted a US air strike on Syrian forces — Assad said his army […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday warned of future chemical weapons “provocations” in Syria to frame President Bashar al-Assad, just as Washington’s top diplomat arrived for talks in Moscow. “We have information from various sources that such provocations — I cannot call them otherwise — are being prepared in other regions of Syria, including in the southern outskirts of Damascus, where they are again planning to throw some kind of substance […]
by Thomas WATKINS Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Monday there is “no doubt” the Syrian regime was behind last week’s deadly chemical strike, while US officials accused Moscow of waging a misinformation campaign around the attack. The charge that Russia is obfuscating who is responsible for the horrific events of April 4 when at least 87 civilians were killed in a rebel-held town came just as US […]
