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Industrial accident involving chemicals at Infineon Several casualties
In the Bavarian town of Regensburg, an industrial accident has hit the chip manufacturer Infineon this weekend. Dozens of employees had to be taken to hospitals after presumably releasing a solvent mixture. Those affected complained of nausea and respiratory problems.
Fire brigade at gas accident. Image: MAK-fotolia 24 employees brought to hospitals
At the weekend it came with the chip manufacturer Infineon in the Bavarian Regensburg to a gas outlet. As reported by the "Bayerische Rundfunk" (BR), according to a company spokesman, a solvent mixture leaked on Saturday morning in a clean room of the Infineon plant. The chemicals triggered symptoms such as nausea and respiratory irritation with some delay. According to the report, the first employees complained of complaints at noon after they found a "chemical smell". Then the air was sucked in the affected clean room and cleared the hall. It is said that at the time of the incident, about 50 employees were in the hall, 24 people had been taken to hospitals with complaints, 14 others had been cared for because of mild nausea in the factory.
Cause for gas leakage still unclear
Meanwhile, all injured are back home. The work in the affected area, however, continues to rest. As Infineon spokesman Georg Forster on Monday morning told the BR, the search for the cause of the gas leakage still run. Before it is not known which material escaped during the accident, the hall should not be put into operation again. According to the information, it is one of three production halls in which computer chips are produced around the clock. Although companies that work with chemicals are subject to numerous precautionary measures, accidents occur repeatedly in such companies. At the beginning of the year, for example, a Cologne refinery suffered an intensive noise and odor nuisance due to a technical breakdown. Some residents had complained about the smell of rotten eggs. (Ad)