Around 8:15 am, fire-fighters were notified about a “gas leak” in a zone of the Belgian city of Ghislenghien, approximately 50 km from Brussels. This leak on the 100-cm diameter gas pipeline (DN 1000) was evidenced by a loud hissing, a tremor and the sudden creation of a cavity in the ground.

At 8:30 am, fire-fighters requested the assistance of the gas utility crew and set up a safety perimeter. Several tens of workers were present on a plant construction site and in a number of neighbouring companies. The leak increased in intensity, forming a whitish spray shooting some fifteen metres high.

At about 9:00 am, an explosion occurred; two minutes later, technicians were able to isolate the pipe segment between the two sectional valves. The gas cloud ignited, producing a “fireball” that subsequently transformed into a long flare whose height was estimated at 150-200 m. Depending on the estimation source, a temperature of around 3,000°C was reached in the middle of the fireball.

A number of individuals, including fire-fighters and police officers, were thrown tens of metres. Showers of debris fell onto the roofs of businesses in the industrial park. Within a radius of 150 to 200 m, tens of vehicles caught fire and the roof coverings of nearby commercial property actually liquefied. A packaging company occupying 3,000 m² of space and located roughly 60 metres away also caught on fire.

An 11-m pipeline section weighing more than a tonne was projected a distance of 150 m against the enclosure of an industrial pastry shop, whose facade blistered. Rescue teams stayed close to their vehicles some 150 m from the scene while sprinkling their polyester cistern, which had become warped due to the thermal radiation.

With a human toll of 24 dead, including 5 fire-fighters, 1 police officer and 5 employees killed on the spot, plus 132 injured, this accident was qualified as Belgium’s most serious industrial disaster in half a century.

Image credit: DPA