Seville explosion: 2 people injured as health alert launched in Southern Spain
Authorities in southern Spain issued a regional health alert on Wednesday after a chemical plant explosion near Seville sent a towering plume of black smoke into the sky and forced emergency warnings to tens of thousands of nearby residents.
The blast occurred midday at an industrial facility in Alcalá de Guadaíra, located roughly 16 kilometres east of Seville's city centre.
Two people were reported injured: a plant worker suffered minor burns, while a firefighter became ill at the scene, according to regional officials in Andalusia.
Local emergency services evacuated staff from the site and urged people within a three-kilometre radius—roughly 25,000 residents—to remain indoors, close windows, and wear face masks if necessary.
The chemical company involved, identified by Spanish media as Plainsur, occupies an 11,000 square metre facility in the industrial park.
Plainsur specialises in packaging and distributing chemical products, though authorities have not yet disclosed which chemicals were involved in the explosion.
Footage shared on social media and local news outlets showed a thick, dark column of smoke rising above the skyline, visible from several kilometres away.
TVE, Spain's national broadcaster, and Diario de Sevilla confirmed the fire originated at the Plainsur site.
This marks the second chemical plant fire in Spain in less than a week. On Saturday, a blaze at a facility in northeastern Spain prompted similar stay-at-home orders for 150,000 residents across five towns.
The incident adds to a series of recent disruptions in Spain's infrastructure. A nationwide power outage on April 28 also affected neighbouring Portugal, though authorities have ruled out cyber sabotage.
More recently, train services between Madrid and Seville were disrupted due to the theft of copper cabling.
Authorities continue to monitor air quality and assess the risk of chemical exposure, while firefighters work to fully contain the blaze. Investigations into the cause of the explosion are ongoing.
No further evacuations have been ordered, but health officials have urged vulnerable populations—including children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions—to exercise caution.
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior has yet to issue a formal statement on the broader implications for national infrastructure safety.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
8 hours ago
- Business Recorder
England coach Tuchel expects players to suffer in World Cup heat
LONDON: England coach Thomas Tuchel will attend FIFA's Club World Cup starting this month to observe how players cope with the expected hot and humid weather conditions. Next year's World Cup, taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico, could be one of the hottest in the tournament's history. 'It is important to see matches now in America, and in Miami at three in the afternoon,' Tuchel said as he prepared his team for their World Cup qualifier against Andorra in Barcelona. 'I will see that. How it looks, and we need to understand how to cool the players down, to drink. What our options are.' England are top of qualifying Group K and almost certain to qualify for next year's tournament where they will be among the favourites for the title. But Tuchel says the conditions will be harsh. 'Let's see because it is after the season, so it will be very similar. The actual experience is for the players, but I have done pre-season there in Orlando and I will be very surprised if we do not suffer,' he said. 'Suffering is one of the headlines for this World Cup.' England are preparing for the Andorra game in the Spanish city of Girona and are using heat tents to test the players reaction and recovery to training in heat and humidity. Sixteen stadiums will be used at next year's World Cup with predictions of potentially extreme temperatures. In Dallas, one of the host cities, in an average year more than 80% of June and July days exceed 28 degrees Celsius. A study led by Brunel University found that, according to analysis of 20 years of weather data, 14 of the 16 host stadiums would top 28 degrees Celsius on a daily basis in June and July with four likely to hit 32 degrees in a hotter than summer. FIFPRO, the world players union, recommends that if there is Wet Bulb Globe Temperature of between 28-32 degree, cooling breaks should take place around the 30th and 75th minutes. It says that if there is a WBGT of more than 32 degrees, training and matches should be rescheduled.
Express Tribune
15-05-2025
- Express Tribune
Seville explosion: 2 people injured as health alert launched in Southern Spain
Authorities in southern Spain issued a regional health alert on Wednesday after a chemical plant explosion near Seville sent a towering plume of black smoke into the sky and forced emergency warnings to tens of thousands of nearby residents. The blast occurred midday at an industrial facility in Alcalá de Guadaíra, located roughly 16 kilometres east of Seville's city centre. Two people were reported injured: a plant worker suffered minor burns, while a firefighter became ill at the scene, according to regional officials in Andalusia. Local emergency services evacuated staff from the site and urged people within a three-kilometre radius—roughly 25,000 residents—to remain indoors, close windows, and wear face masks if necessary. The chemical company involved, identified by Spanish media as Plainsur, occupies an 11,000 square metre facility in the industrial park. Plainsur specialises in packaging and distributing chemical products, though authorities have not yet disclosed which chemicals were involved in the explosion. Footage shared on social media and local news outlets showed a thick, dark column of smoke rising above the skyline, visible from several kilometres away. TVE, Spain's national broadcaster, and Diario de Sevilla confirmed the fire originated at the Plainsur site. This marks the second chemical plant fire in Spain in less than a week. On Saturday, a blaze at a facility in northeastern Spain prompted similar stay-at-home orders for 150,000 residents across five towns. The incident adds to a series of recent disruptions in Spain's infrastructure. A nationwide power outage on April 28 also affected neighbouring Portugal, though authorities have ruled out cyber sabotage. More recently, train services between Madrid and Seville were disrupted due to the theft of copper cabling. Authorities continue to monitor air quality and assess the risk of chemical exposure, while firefighters work to fully contain the blaze. Investigations into the cause of the explosion are ongoing. No further evacuations have been ordered, but health officials have urged vulnerable populations—including children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions—to exercise caution. The Spanish Ministry of the Interior has yet to issue a formal statement on the broader implications for national infrastructure safety.
Business Recorder
28-04-2025
- Business Recorder
Massive blackout hits Spain and Portugal
MADRID/LISBON: A huge power outage hit large parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday, paralysing traffic, grounding flights, trapping people in elevators and leaving power operators scrambling to restore power to millions of homes and businesses. Some hospitals halted routine work and the two countries' governments convened emergency cabinet meetings, with officials initially saying a possible cyber attack could not be ruled out. Outages on such a scale are extremely rare in Europe, and the cause could not immediately be established. Reuters witnesses said power had started returning to the Basque country and Barcelona areas of Spain in the early afternoon, a few hours after the outage began. It was not clear when power might be more widely restored. Hospitals in Madrid and Cataluna in Spain suspended all routine medical work but were still attending to critical patients, using backup generators. Several Spanish oil refineries were shut down and retail businesses shut. The Bank of Spain said electronic banking was functioning 'adequately' on backup systems, though residents also reported ATM screens had gone blank. 'I'm in a data centre, and everything has gone off. All the alarms popped up, and now we're with the groups, waiting to find out what happened,' said Barcelona resident and engineer Jose Maria Espejo, 40. In a video posted on X, Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida urged city residents to minimise their journeys and stay where they were, adding: 'It is essential that the emergency services can circulate.' In Portugal, water supplier EPAL said water supplies could also be disrupted, and queues formed at stores by people rushing to purchase emergency supplies like gaslights, generators and batteries. The main Portuguese electricity utility, EDP, said it had told customers it had no forecast for when the energy supply would be 'normalised', Publico newspaper said.
