Ludwigshafen Chemical Plant Blast, Five Workers Killed, Dozens Treated For Severe Burns

Ludwigshafen, Germany— A violent explosion ripped through a chemical processing unit in the Ludwigshafen industrial park at 9:22 a.m. Tuesday, killing five workers and sending a plume of black smoke visible for miles along the Rhine.

The blast struck Building C-14, where solvents are processed. Plant alarms triggered an immediate evacuation. Workers reported a loud bang followed by a fireball that shattered windows in adjacent halls. Five employees inside the unit were killed outright.

At least nine others were injured. Six were taken to the Ludwigshafen burn center with serious burns and smoke inhalation. Two remain in critical condition. Plant security counted all staff by midday and confirmed no one else was trapped.

Fire brigades from the chemical park and the city surrounded the unit with foam and water cannons. They contained a secondary fire in a storage line by noon. Air monitoring units were deployed downwind. Authorities briefly told residents in two nearby districts to keep windows closed.

"We heard the pressure wave in the control room. The safety interlock shut the feed, but the vessel had already ruptured," a plant shift supervisor said. He was not authorized to speak publicly and asked that his name be withheld.

BASF-adjacent operators and regional authorities set up a joint command post. The State Office for Occupational Safety said it had opened a parallel investigation alongside criminal police. The site is secured and classified as an accident zone.

The company said the unit had been operating within normal parameters and had undergone maintenance two weeks ago. Logs, pressure readings, and safety valve data have been seized. A chemical leak was contained inside the bund wall, according to initial readings.

Unions demanded a full external audit. "Five people went to work and did not come back. We need more than an internal report," said a representative of IG BCE, the chemical workers union, outside the gate.

Production in surrounding units remains halted. The city mayor said schools nearby resumed normal operation after air quality tests came back clear in the early afternoon.

Prosecutors will decide whether to open a negligent homicide inquiry once technical investigators deliver their initial findings in the next 48 hours.