It took days for emergency responders to safely locate all the victims after a tank rupture released hundreds of thousands of gallons of caustic chemicals.Show Caption
The bodies of all nine missing workers at the Washington state paper facility where a chemical tank exploded on May 26 have been recovered and identified, bringing the death toll to 11, authorities said on May 30.The explosion at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company in Longview, Washington, happened the morning of May 26 when a tank containing white liquor, used to make paper, ruptured, releasing hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals.Authorities initially said one person was killed and nine were injured, including with chemical burns. One of the injured people later died, and nine employees were unaccounted for at first.It took days for responders to be able to safely locate the remaining workers, as officials said the situation was unstable. The sprawling effort involved diverting the spilled substance away from the community's water supply and decontaminating the bodies."I hope today will give the families so affected by this incident the closure needed to begin the long process of healing," Longview Fire Department Chief Brad Hannig said at a May 30 news conference announcing the recovery of the bodies of the last missing workers.The blast was deemed one of the worst industrial disasters in modern state history. Many were in an employee break room during a shift change when the explosion occurred, Longview Fire Department officials said.Who were the victims?On May 30, the Cowlitz County (Washington) Coroner’s Office released the names of all 11 victims of the explosion:Gilbert Bernal, 52Tyler Covington, 29Bradley Covington, 27Robert “Robb” Wilson, 48Dale Miller, 54Jared Ammons, 35Braydon Finkas, 38Clinton “CJ” Doran, 26John Forsberg, 51Norman Barlow, 58Dillon Miller, no age givenWhat happened at the Nippon Dynawave plant?The explosion at Nippon Dynawave happened at about 7:15 a.m. local time on May 26, the Longview Fire Department said. A tank containing hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals ruptured, spilling a substance called "white liquor" across the plant.White liquor is caustic, authorities said, and is used in the production of paper products. Nippon Dynawave employs hundreds to produce bleached paperboard that is used to make cartons and containers for products like juice and milk. The company and its property have been the site of past workplace safety violations and fires.Because the chemicals and the tank were deemed unstable, responders couldn't immediately access all the areas of the facility to search for additional victims, officials said. By May 28, authorities had confirmed eight deaths and said three employees were in areas of the plant still inaccessible to crews due to safety concerns.Some of the spilled material contaminated the Columbia River and nearby ditches and dikes, but had not affected community drinking water, officials said. There was also no airborne contamination, they said.
