Date: June 6, 2018
Location: Strasbourg (France)
Address: 109 Rue du Rhin Napoleon, Strasbourg, France 67000
Type: Dust Explosion
Fuel: Grain Dust
Industry: Grain Storage and Distribution (Agriculture)
Equipment: Grain Silo
Company: Comptoir Agricole
Previous Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: Four Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to Reuters, the Silo Silostra site is owned by agricultural cooperative Comptoir Agricole. The Comptoir Agricole website says their agronomic team works throughout the year assisting and advising their members, specializing in oenological analysis for viticulture (the science and production of grapes). Since 2005 they have also provided web-service tools to more than 42 cooperatives.
The architectural website Archi Wiki describes Silo Silostra as a grain silo with a capacity of 40,000 tonnes. The site also includes including cereal processing equipment. There is a 57-meter high handling tower with a meeting room at the top.
Description of Grain Silo Explosion
On June 6, Daily Sabah Europe reported that a grain silo had exploded in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, injuring four people.
The incident occurred at about 9:20 am at Silo Silostra, a grain store for farmers with a capacity of 40,000 tonnes. Maintenance work had been taking place on the silo at the time of the blast. The prefecture secretary general was quoted as saying, “the usual safety measures had been taken. So, for the moment, I cannot give you any more details on the real cause of the disaster.”
More than 100 firefighters and 60 fire engines were deployed to deal with the incident, and the fire caused by the blast was brought under control by early afternoon. A 200-metre perimeter roadblock was secured around the site and residents were instructed to avoid the area.
One of the four people injured was a member of the cooperative’s staff. The other three were working for a contractor that was carrying out maintenance work on the facility.
Three of the four were airlifted to hospital. The newspaper Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace reported that two of the injured workers had been transferred to the Metz burns center. One had reportedly suffered 65% burns.
It was speculated that the explosion had been caused by sparks from welding equipment.
In a later article, Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace added that the explosion caused the spread of debris from the building’s roof which was feared to contain asbestos. As a result, the prefecture had ordered asbestos dust removal measures. Measurements were being made to check the asbestos level in the air around the site.
State services, it was reported, had noted the presence of asbestos fibers at three control points out of 12. However, the concentration of these asbestos fibers was “well below the standards set by the public health code”, said the prefecture. Testing was also being carried out at sites near the silo and in any location where debris had been discovered.
British newspaper the Sunday Express reported that plumes of thick, black smoke could be seen for miles following the blast, adding that the cause of the explosion was not yet known.
Sources:
Daily Sabah Europe
Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace (initial report on explosion)
Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsac (update re: asbestos)
The Express
Reuters
Archi Wiki
