One person died, nine people were injured and nine others were missing following an industrial incident involving the rupture of a tank containing chemicals at a paper mill in the north-western United States, local authorities said on Tuesday.
The Longview Fire Department, in a joint statement with Nippon Dynawave Packaging and local authorities, confirmed one fatality in an update on Tuesday afternoon. Eight employees of the company and a firefighter were listed as injured, while nine people remained "unaccounted for."
Emergency crews responded following the rupture early on Tuesday of a tank containing white liquor, a chemical solution used to break down wood chips into pulp, at Nippon Dynawave Packaging in Longview, near Washington State's border with Oregon.
The company manufactures cardboard boxes for liquids.
Authorities said that "while originally believed to contain approximately 80,000 gallons [300,000 litres], officials now report the tank held approximately 900,000 gallons of white liquor. Longview Fire and Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue estimate roughly 90,000 gallons of material may remain inside the damaged tank."
Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein had previously said that the ruptured tank was believed to have a capacity of about 80,000 gallons and was about 60% full when the incident took place.
"Currently, the tank remains unstable, creating hazardous conditions for emergency personnel," authorities continued in the joint statement. "Responders are continuing efforts to structurally reinforce and stabilize the site before additional recovery operations can safely proceed."
Authorities said that the site would be monitored overnight, but recovery efforts would be paused until Wednesday morning "due to ongoing safety concerns."
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson expressed his condolences to those affected on social media platform X.
"I'm deeply saddened to hear that there have been fatalities," Ferguson said. "My thoughts are with the workers and their families, and with the first responders."
