At least 12 people were killed Thursday after a gas tank exploded at an Egyptian fertiliser factory on the Red Sea coast, according to a security source.
No final numbers of the casualties in Ain Sokhna have been officially confirmed, but medical sources told AFP 10 bodies had been received at a nearby morgue following an incident.The explosion occurred when the workers were conducting a pilot operation of the tank. Immediately, civil protection forces transferred the explosion victims to Suez General Hospital, and investigations were launched.
On February 27, around 23 people were killed and more than 40 others were injured when a train locomotive collided with the buffer stop at platform number six of Ramses Railway Station, causing a huge explosion.
Egypt's official news agency MENA said a total of 15 have been killed and wounded.Two medics told AFP that 12 bodies had been received at a morgue in Suez.
Families of victims gathered outside the morgue, an AFP stringer at the site said.
Officials have not confirmed a final toll or the location of the blast.
Local media have reported an industrial accident, citing several figures.
Ain Sokhna, part of the Suez governorate, is around 130 kilometres south east of Cairo.
The blast is believed to have happened during a trial operation at one of the plant's ammonia tanks, said local media reports.
Up to 10 workers are believed to have been killed and seven others injured, according to the reports.
The victims were taken to the Suez General Hospital and the company is now investigating the cause of the fire, said a media report.
No official statement is available from the company.
The explosion is understood to have occurred at NCIC’s new phosphates and compound fertilizer complex, which began production earlier this year, but is expected to be begin full scale operations in late 2019, said a local source.
The facility is estimated to have an annual capacity of 450,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid, 360,000 tonnes of diammonium phosphate (DAP), 225,000 tonnes of Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) and 1.14m tonnes of sulphuric acid.
German engineering company thyssenkrupp on 17 March signed a contract with NCIC to construct a nitrogen plant near Cairo, Egypt, it said on Monday.
The new nitrogen facility is close to NCIC’s phosphates and compound fertilizer complex.
thyssenkrupp is not involved in the phosphates project.
The nitrogen plant is expected to be operational in 2022 and will have an annual production of up to 440,000 tonnes of ammonia, 380,000 tonnes of urea and 300,000 tonnes of calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN).
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