One of the biggest chemical disasters happened in the Oppau, Germany plant of BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, on September 21, 1921 when a tower silo storing 4500 tonnes of a mixture of ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded. The explosion killed about 500-600 people and injured more than 2000. More than 80 percent of all buildings in Oppau were destroyed leaving 6500 people homeless. The exact cause of the accident could not be known as all those involved died in the explosion. However researches suggest that an inaccurate estimation of sulphate-nitrate could have been a reason. A few months before the incident the manufacturing process had been changed in a way which lowered the humidity level which is another estimated trigger for the explosion.http://pelings.com/
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