The death toll from a devastating US chemical spill at a paper manufacturing plant in Washington state has risen to 11 after emergency crews recovered the bodies of all nine workers who had been reported missing.
According to Channels Television, citing US authorities, the incident occurred on Tuesday at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview, Washington, when a massive storage tank containing a highly caustic chemical solution imploded.
Longview Fire Department Chief Brad Hannig confirmed on Saturday that rescuers had located the final missing employee, bringing the total number of fatalities to 11.
The accident happened during an early morning shift change when a 900,000-gallon tank holding white liquor ruptured. The substance, widely used in the paper-making process, is a highly alkaline solution containing sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide.
White liquor is used to break down wood chips into pulp, a key stage in paper production. The tank failure triggered a major emergency response operation as authorities searched for workers believed to have been caught in the incident.
Nippon Dynawave Packaging, a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Paper Group, produces about eight billion single-serve containers annually and supplies customers across North America, Asia and other global markets.
Emergency responders remained at the site following the disaster, while investigations into the cause of the tank implosion are expected to continue.
