Spain Blast Victim Killed After Ton of Metal Flew Two Miles

(Bloomberg) -- One of the two victims from a huge blast at a Spanish petrochemical plant was killed by a piece of metal debris weighing about a ton that traveled nearly two miles to enter the window of an apartment block where he lived, burying him in rubble.

The metal plate was hurled through the air by the force of the explosion that ripped apart an ethylene-oxide plant on the outskirts of the Catalan city of Tarragona on Tuesday evening, according to the region’s fire service. Another victim was found dead on Wednesday morning on the site of the facility owned by the Spanish company IQOXE.

Tarragona is home to a chemical industry hub that includes more than 100 companies of all sizes and a cargo port. IQOXE is the only Spanish producer of ethylene-oxide, with an installed capacity of 140,000 tons a year, according to its website.

Jose Luis Morlanes, IQOXE’s chief executive officer, said the explosion occurred in an ethylene-oxide facility of 20 tons capacity. He said the company was working closely with the emergency services and had opened its own inquiry to find out what happened. The blast also left eight people injured.

To contact the reporter on this story: Charles Penty in Madrid at cpenty@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Todd White

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