Blast at facility in Ritterhude where solvents are handled damages nearby residential area and is heard for miles around

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A huge explosion rocked a chemical facility on Tuesday night near Bremen in north-western Germany, injuring several people, police said.

Police told the DPA news agency that one person was severely burned in the blast and the explosion damaged a nearby residential area in the town of Ritterhude, which is in the county of Verden-Osterholz.

The injured man was found in the rubble and several local residents were slightly injured, police and firefighters said.

The blast, at 9pm, was heard for miles and sparked an intense fire. Marcus Neumann, spokesman for the local Verden-Osterholz police, said authorities believed the injured man was a plant employee whose car was found outside the plant.

Neumann said the employee responded to an alarm on his beeper and drove from his home to the plant to investigate.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Ritterhude explosion seen from a distance. Photograph: AP

Neumann said the cause of the blast was not clear as the site was still too hot and not yet accessible to investigators.

The plant is owned by Organo Fluid GmbH, which specialises in recovering valuable solvents from used mixtures.