You can find more information in our data protection declaration. The resulting fire spread through the pipe systems and eventually led to a gas explosion. On Monday, October 17, 2016, there was an explosion and subsequent fires at the North Harbor in Ludwigshafen. The pressure wave caused great damage in Mannheim, located just across the Rhine, ripped roofs off up to 25 km away, and destroyed windows farther away, including all the medieval stained-glass windows of Worms cathedral, 15 km (9.3 mi) to the north. While welding a pipe a 63 year old subcontractor accidentially cut into the wrong pipe. [clarification needed], Five hundred bodies were recovered within the first 48 hours,[8] with the final death toll recorded being in excess of 560 people. Farben's then-HQ in Frankfurt (Main). On 28 July 1948, an explosion occurred at a BASF site in Ludwigshafen, killing 207 people and injuring 3818. In the Soviet occupation zone, the company's factories were dismantled and shipped East, or nationalized. Privacy Policy | Legal notice | Indeed, nothing extraordinary had happened during an estimated 20,000 firings, until the fateful explosion on September 21. Since the turn of the 20th century, thanks to R&D by German chemists Fritz Haber und Carl Bosch, it has been possible to produce ammonia on an industrial scale. BASF SE (IW 1000/39) faces a prolonged shut-down at its biggest chemical site on the banks of the Rhine River in Germany following an explosion and fire that has left two dead and two still missing. Eight people were critically injured - including the now deceased BASF fireman - and another 22 people were slightly injured. On these grounds, the material handled by the plant, nominally a 50/50 mixture, was considered stable enough to be stored in 50,000-tonne lots, more than ten times the amount involved in the disaster. BASF was founded on April 6, 1865, by Friedrich Engelhorn, under the name of Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik (later BASF). The German chemical industry's main firms had already collaborated loosely since 1916, in support of the German war effort. The European economy pace of recovery after the first world war was rather slow. Farben. In November 1945, the Allied control council dissolved I.G. Few people know, for example, that BASF is not only the world's biggest chemical industry company, but also one of Germany's biggest wine sellers. During the first world war, BASF produced explosives, gunpowder, and poison gas for the German military. Chemical company BASF says several people have been injured in an explosion at a … Twitter user Stefan Rinke tweeted: "Nearby #basf big explosion in Oppau district in #ludwigshafen" (translated). BASF employs over 100,000 people around the world and had sales of more than 70 billion euros ($76.8 billion) in 2015. BASF said earlier this week that the explosion was likely triggered by a contractor who mistakenly cut a wrong pipeline. The company invests heavily in research - for example in organic solar cells (pictured). Air sample are being taken by a BASF mobile lab. Pictured: The I.G. Over the decades that followed, BASF broadened its product range and built more and more production facilities around the world. The death toll from an explosion at a BASF chemical plant in Ludwigshafen earlier this month rose to four on Saturday, the chemical giant said in a statement. In 2016, a subcontractor at BASF's site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, caused a gas explosion during welding work. Published on Oct 17, 2016 Bei einer Explosion auf einem Werksgelände des Chemieriesen BASF in Ludwigshafen sind mehrere Menschen verletzt worden. In Heidelberg (30 km (19 mi) from Oppau), traffic was stopped by the mass of broken glass on the streets, a tram was derailed, and some roofs were destroyed. [9], Coordinates: 49°31′04″N 8°25′06″E / 49.51778°N 8.41833°E / 49.51778; 8.41833, (slides for a talk given at UKELG (United Kingdom Explosion Liaison Group), Loughborough University), Learn how and when to remove this template message, Largest artificial non-nuclear explosions, "A factual clarification and chemical-technical reassessment of the 1921 Oppau explosion disaster - the unforeseen explosivity of porous ammonium sulfate nitrate fertilizer", "Risk and safety management of ammonium nitrate fertilizers: keeping the memory of disasters alive", "French Ministry of Environment, Explosion in a nitrogenous fertiliser plant, ARIA 14373", "Ammonium Nitrate: Fertiliser, Oxidiser and Tertiary Explosive, A Review of Ammonium Nitrate Safety Issues based on Incidents, Research and Experience in the Safety Field", "A factual clarification and chemical-technical reassessment of the 1921 Oppau explosion disaster – the unforeseen explosivity of porous ammonium sulfate nitrate fertilizer", "JUSTICE NOT BLIND IN GERMAN COURTS; Old Uniforms and Titles Protect Offenders Against Laws of the Republic. It was well known that ammonium nitrate was explosive, having been used extensively for this purpose during World War I, but tests conducted in 1919 had suggested that mixtures of ammonium sulfate and nitrate containing less than 60% nitrate would not explode. Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft (I.G. To ease their work, small charges of dynamite were used to loosen the mixture. [4][2], As all involved died in the explosion, the causes are not clear. NEW ARMY LACKS RECRUITS Force Said to Be Below 100,000 Mamimum [, "70,000 AT OPPAU FUNERALS. Pictured: I.G. However, according to modern sources and contrary to the above-mentioned 1919 tests, the "less than 60% nitrate = safe" criterion is inaccurate; in mixtures containing 50% nitrate, any explosion of the mixture is confined to a small volume around the initiating charge, but increasing the proportion of nitrate to 55–60% greatly increases the explosive properties and creates a mixture whose detonation is sufficiently powerful to initiate detonation in a surrounding mixture of a lower nitrate concentration which would normally be considered minimally explosive. READ UPDATE HERE. Questo sito di ricerca e produzione offre molte opportunità di lavoro, di sviluppo e di crescita professionale. Both these factors rendered the substance more likely to explode. On Monday, October 17, 2016, there was an explosion and subsequent fires at the North Harbor at BASF’s site in Ludwigshafen. "I am deeply concerned, that another employee has died as a result of the accident," said BASF CEO Kurt Bock in the statement. Carl Wurster lead the Zyklon B production of Degesch. 17th Oct, 2016. The gas was originally meant to serve as an insecticide, but the Nazis ended up using it in the death camps to murder millions of human beings. Prozess gegen Schweißer nach BASF-Explosion mit 5 Toten - Duration: 0:48. euronews (deutsch) 7,182 ... Großbrand in Ludwigshafen BASF - Lager Parkinsel - … The court has now ruled: 1 year on parole. The company has 113,000 employees in more than 80 countries. “We mourn two colleagues from the fire department and the seaman who died in the fire. Our sites Investor Relations. [4] The funeral was attended by German President Friedrich Ebert and Prime Minister Hugo Lerchenfeld, and saw crowds of 70,000 people at the cemetery in Ludwigshafen. There is also evidence that the lot in question was not of uniform composition and contained pockets of up to several dozen tonnes of mixture enriched in ammonium nitrate. In the same year, the four occupying powers confiscated the company's entire capital stock. LONDON (ICIS)--A German court on Tuesday began hearing charges related to the 2016 explosion at BASF’s Ludwigshafen petrochemicals production hub that ended up killing five people and injuring 44.. A firefighter has died after being injured in the October 17 blast at a BASF chemical plant in southwest Germany. The company sold about 900,000 bottles in 2013 alone. The plant began producing ammonium sulfate in 1911, but during World War I when Germany was unable to obtain the necessary sulfur, it began to produce ammonium nitrate as well. 17.10.16, 11:30 Zuerst fing es Feuer dann kam die Explosion About 80 percent of all buildings in Oppau were destroyed, leaving 6,500 homeless. [4][6] The explosions were heard as two loud bangs in north-eastern France and in Munich, more than 300 km away, and are estimated to have contained an energy of 1–2 kilotonnes TNT equivalent. The site also serves as a technology platform and the center of corporate research. It is not clear why this warning was not heeded. It took firefighters 10 hours to extinguish the resulting blaze. Ogni anno … Engelhorn had already been running a factory for several years that supplied the city of Mannheim with gas for its street lamps. The damage to property was valued in 1922 at 321 million marks, estimated by The New York Times at the time to be equivalent to 7 million US dollars[4][7] (since Germany suffered heavy hyperinflation in 1919–1924, given amounts and exchange rates were not very descriptive). With an area of approximately ten square kilometres the Ludwigshafen Verbund site is the world’s largest integrated chemical complex. Einige … The Ludwigshafen synagogue was destroyed in 1938 and its Jewish population of 1,400 was deported in 1940. Our deepest sympathy is with their families and … It has therefore been proposed that one of the charges had been placed in or near such a pocket, exploding with sufficient violence to set off some of the surrounding lower-nitrate mixture. "Our thoughts are with our deceased colleagues and his family.". Engelhorn decided to found BASF to produce tar-based and aniline dyes for the textile industry. BASF SE (IW 1000/39) said one employee died and at least six people were missing following an explosion and fire at the chemical maker’s main plant on the banks of the River Rhine in Germany. The Ludwigshafen plant currently employs some 36,000 people. There's no corporation in the chemical industry that has bigger revenues or a larger market cap than BASF. La BASF SE è una società europea con sede a Ludwigshafen, nella regione della Renania Palatinato, in Germania.Il nome BASF è l'acronimo di Badische Anilin- und Soda Fabrik (Fabbrica di Anilina e Soda del Baden).Il Gruppo BASF conta più di 200 tra filiali e joint venture e possiede siti produttivi in 50 paesi in Europa, Asia, Nord e Sud America. Changes in humidity, density, particle size in the mixture and homogeneity of crystal structure also affect the explosive properties. Germany Ludwigshafen residents not in danger from BASF chemical plant explosion. The workers needed to use pickaxes to get it out, a problematic situation because they could not enter the silo and risk being buried in collapsing fertilizer. The company made extensive use of forced labor, including concentration camp prisoners. A memorial service for the victims is set to take place on Sunday. Public awareness of BASF's wide range of businesses is limited. [1], Compared to ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate is strongly hygroscopic, so the mixture of ammonium sulfate and nitrate compacted under its own weight, turning it into a plaster-like substance in the 20-metre-high (66 ft) silo. I.G. Several others are reported to be injured or missing. BASF has more than 390 production sites around the world. The corporate HQ is in western Germany at Ludwigshafen am Rhein (pictured). [4], Two months earlier, at Kriewald, then part of Germany, 19 people had died when 30 tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonated under similar circumstances. Ludwigshafen/Germany — On Monday, October 17, 2016, there was an explosion and subsequent fires at the North Harbor in Ludwigshafen. BASF's product range is huge: Paints and varnishes, styrofoam, insulation materials, medicines, light stabilizers, vehicle battery materials, adhesives and more. The cause of the blast at BASF headquarters in Ludwigshafen was not immediately determined, Deutsche Wells reported. The explosion occurred on a supply line connecting a harbor and a tank depot on the Ludwigshafen site at around 1120 local time (0920 GMT), according to BASF, the world’s biggest chemicals company. Sales in 2014 amounted to a hefty 74.3 billion euros ($79.9 billion). The cellars of the wine sales subsidiary, more than 100 years old, feature more than 2,000 different wines. The explosion occurred as firefighters were working to fight the fire. An explosion at a BASF chemical complex in Ludwigshafen has killed at least two people, a spokesman has said. Più di 39.000 collaboratori lavorano presso la sede centrale di BASF a Ludwigshafen (sul Reno) nella Germania sudoccidentale. A byproduct was coal tar. During the Oil Campaign of World War II, the Allies conducted bombing of Ludwigshafen and Oppau. Get the latest information and figures on the BASF share and BASF group. At least two people have been killed and another two are missing after an explosion at German chemical company BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen. Weitere Informationen in der Beschreibung Gegen 11.20 Uhr wurde die BASF Werkfeuerwehr Ludwigshafen zu einem Brand im Nordteil der BASF gerufen. [2][3], This seemingly suicidal procedure was in fact common practice. Farben). [4][2], A few months before the incident, the manufacturing process had been changed in such a way as to lower the humidity level of the mixture from 3–4% to 2%, and also to lower the apparent density. 1948: A deadly explosion at German chemical conglomerate IG Farben’s Ludwigshafen plant on the Rhine River kills more than 200 people and injures more than 3,800 — 500 of them seriously. Barriers have been set up between the harbor and the Rhine. Increases in measured chemicals have not been observed in the Rhine, or in the air of Ludwigshafen or Mannheim. FILE - The Feb. 18, 2016 file picture shows parts of BASF chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany. [4] In these explosions 10% of the 4,500 tonnes of fertilizer stored in the silo detonated. Four people were killed and several others were injured following an explosion and subsequent fire at the North Harbor section of the complex in October 2016. Two persons died in an explosion at German chemical company BASF facility in Ludwigshafen, which also … Firefighters are among the missing. Farben collaborated with the Nazi regime. That's a key ingredient for both fertilizer and explosives. Deadly explosion at site last year The BASF Ludwigshafen site is 10 square kilometers in size and is home to 200 different plants. The body of the sailor was retrieved by divers from the bottom of the BASF plant harbor where the accident took place. The explosion and subsequent fire killed two BASF firefighters as well as a Polish sailor on a nearby tanker ship. With its six Verbund sites and 347 additional production sites, BASF supports customers and partners in more than 80 countries. Farben's Ludwighafen factory in March 1945. We use cookies to improve our service for you. The BASF Ludwigshafen plant, 50 miles south of Frankfurt, is the world's largest chemical complex and covers four square miles, employing 39,000 people. On January 30, 1952, eleven companies were created out of the ruined legacy of I.G. Initially, BASF focused mostly on making plastics. Ammonia could be produced without overseas resources, using the Haber process, and the plant was the first of its kind to do so in the world. [4][5][better source needed]. In 1952, BASF was refounded under its own name following the efforts of former Nazi Party member and Third Reich Wehrwirtschaftsführer (war economy leader) Carl Wurster. Two explosions, half a second apart, occurred at 7:32 am on September 21, 1921, at Silo 110 of the plant, forming a crater 90 by 125 m (300 by 410 ft) wide and 19 m (62 ft) deep. At BASF’s Ludwigshafen site, some 8,000 sales products are produced with a total volume of 8.5 million metric tons per year from just a few raw materials, such as naphtha, rock salt and sulfur. ; Ebert Expresses Appreciation of French Sympathy", "Photograph: The Devastation Caused By Explosion In Dye Works At Oppau, Germany", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oppau_explosion&oldid=990375739, Articles needing additional references from September 2016, All articles needing additional references, Articles lacking reliable references from August 2020, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2017, Articles with German-language sources (de), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 24 November 2020, at 03:18. It had already been largely destroyed by aerial bombing. The company's 2014 research budget was around 1.8 billion euros. Scegli tra immagini premium su Basf della migliore qualità. Ludwigshafen. "This morning, one of the BASF firefighters who was critically injured in the October 17 explosion ... succumbed to his wounds," the BASF statement read. Thirteen thousand Allied bombers hit the city in 121 separate raids during the war, of which 56 succeeded in hitting the IG Farben plant. The Oppau explosion occurred on September 21, 1921, when approximately 4,500 tonnes of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer stored in a tower silo exploded at a BASF plant in Oppau, now part of Ludwigshafen, Germany, killing 500–600 people and injuring about 2,000 more. | Mobile version, an explosion at a BASF chemical plant in Ludwigshafen. In 1925, BASF fused with five other firms, including Hoechst and Bayer, to form I.G. Scopri le migliori foto stock e immagini editoriali di attualità di Basf su Getty Images. The accident had a major impact, affecting more than 20 plants at the large site. Two employees of the BASF fire department and an employee of a tanker which was anchored in the harbor died in the accident. The October 17 fire occurred at a river harbor used to unload flammable liquids and liquid gas. It became a global company. Police cordon off the road leading to German chemical company BASF facility in Ludwigshafen, southwestern Germany on Oct. 17, 2016. The explosion and the fire happened along the pipelines that connect BASF’s © 2020 Deutsche Welle | Farben facility at Auschwitz-Monowitz, where Zyklon B poison gas was produced. A large fraction of BASF's sales consist of chemicals and production materials for other industries, including construction, pharmaceutical, textile, and automobile industries. At BASF’s Germany site in Ludwigshafen, a huge chemical explosion occurred killing three people and injured about 20 others. The death toll from an explosion at a BASF chemical plant in Ludwigshafen earlier this month rose to four on Saturday, the chemical giant said in a statement. The accident was likely caused by a contractor cutting the wrong pipeline, the company said. BASF materials used in the renovation of London's Underground (pictured), for example, include tunnel boring machines, robotic machines for rock-wall support construction, spray concrete and fire protection coatings. The Oppau explosion occurred on September 21, 1921, when approximately 4,500 tonnes of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer stored in a tower silo exploded at a BASF plant in Oppau, now part of Ludwigshafen, Germany, killing 500–600 people and injuring about 2,000 more. 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