During the incident at BASF SE's southern plant in Ludwigshafen, an explosion and subsequent fire occurred when an organic solvent escaped. There was no contamination of air, water or soil. BASF's environmental monitoring vehicles were on the move inside and outside the site and were unable to detect any product spillage.
The fire was extinguished by the BASF plant fire department at around 12.45 pm. The plant was shut down and is in a safe condition. 15 employees were slightly injured in the incident and were examined at the BASF Medical Center. All of them have since been able to leave the Medical Center.
The cause of the incident is being investigated. The relevant authorities have been informed.