A bleaching agent which spontaneously combusted in a shipping container from an industrial estate caused a leak of hazardous fumes in the German city of Mannheim, chemicals giant BASF said on Wednesday.
A gas cloud formed over the industrial estate that reached 150 metres in height. Sixteen police officers were injured.
The substance was found in a barrel in a shipping container from the industrial estate. The container housed 200 barrels of hydrosulphites, an auxiliary agent for the textile industry that is used for bleaching.
Linda von dem Bussche, Head of Safety & Environment at BASF Ludwigshafen, explained that the chemical that leaked from one of the barrels Tuesday was a slightly reactive, very old bleach for textiles.
According to von dem Bussche, the container was intended for Turkey. She spoke of an unfortunate and very rare incident.
Bussche said BASF would deal with the question of how this sort of thing could be prevented in the future.
According to BASF, a total of 17 people were injured. Previous reports had spoken of 16 slightly injured police officers.
Even after more than a day, police and the fire brigade were still dealing with the accident on Wednesday afternoon.
Crews were aiming to cool the container in order to make the reactions inside it controllable. The contents need to be cooled to temperatures below 50 degrees Centigrade.
At least 16 German police officers were taken to hospital on Tuesday to be treated for respiratory issues as a result of the leak.
Residents in a 1,300-metre radius of the site, in the city's Mühlauhafen district, have been told to keep their windows and doors closed and to stay indoors.
