Toulouse chemical factory explosion

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Expand French Template:Infobox event On 21 September 2001, an explosion occurred at the AZF (French initialism for AZote Fertilisant, i.e. nitrogen fertiliser) fertiliser factory in Toulouse, France, belonging to Grande Paroisse, a subsidiary of Total.

Three hundred tonnes of ammonium nitrate was stored (the maximum capacity was 2,000 tonnes) in hangar 221 222.[1] The entire factory was destroyed, making a crater with a depth of about Script error: No such module "convert". and a diameter of Script error: No such module "convert"..[1] Steel girders were found Script error: No such module "convert". away from the explosion site.[2] The blast measured 3.4 on the Richter scale,[3] with an estimated power equivalent to 20-40 tons of TNT.[1] The explosion was heard up to Template:Cvt away, with the sound of the explosion audible as far away as in Canejan, Spain Template:Cvt south of Toulouse.[4][5] Due to the acoustics of the hills and the loud sound, the explosion was reported as occurring in multiple places. Police at first believed that at least five bombs had simultaneously gone off. There is still controversy over the exact number of explosions.Template:According to whom

The factory was close to the city: one of the most inhabited areas, Le Mirail, is Script error: No such module "convert". away. Around 10 percent of the inhabitants of Toulouse had to be evacuated.[6]

Victims

The disaster caused 31 deaths, about 30 seriously wounded, and 2,500 light casualties.[7] Two thirds of the city's windows were shattered, causing 70 eye wounds.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The total damages paid by insurance groups exceeded 1.5 billion euros.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Investigation

Script error: No such module "Unsubst". On 4 October 2001, France's then Environment Minister Yves Cochet announced that the explosion "may have been a terrorist attack" (the explosion occurred ten days after the September 11 attacks) and identified Hassan Jandoubi, a plant sub-contractor killed in the blast, as a person under investigation. French anti-terrorist authorities were prohibited by the Toulouse prosecutor from searching Jandoubi's house for five days after the incident.[8]

Police declared that Jandoubi had "possible Islamic fundamentalist sympathies", yet by the time the search was finally conducted, they said that Jandoubi's girlfriend had disposed of all traces of his clothes and photos. Authorities described the delay as damaging to the investigation.[9][10][11][12]

In May 2006, the official investigation released a final report supporting a chemical accident theory in which sodium dichlorocyanurate mixed with Template:Cvt of ammonium nitrate spilled on the main nitrate pile 20 minutes before the explosion.[1]

See also

References

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  1. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ government report (archive)
  8. ↑ Paul Seabright What Explosion? London Review of Books Nov 1 2001
  9. ↑ Paul Seabright AZF: L'enquête assassinée AZF: l'enquête assassinée
  10. ↑ Anti-Terror probe into French blast Template:Webarchive CNN 4 Oct 2001
  11. ↑ Explosion in France may have been Terrorism Template:Webarchive The Michigan Daily, 5 Oct 2001
  12. ↑ Terrorism link to French explosion The Guardian 5 October 2001

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Further reading

External links

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