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Take part in our reader survey By 2020-01-15T15:29:00+00:00 Two employees killed and seven others injured at Iqoxe plant in Tarragona Source: © Fabian A Pons/Europa Press/Getty Images The affected plant is part of a large petrochemical complex shared with other firms An explosion and fire at an ethylene oxide and derivatives plant in Tarragona has left two employees dead and seven others injured The explosion affected a reactor at the site run by Industrias Químicas del Óxido de Etileno (Iqoxe) in the evening of 14 January with firefighters tackling the ensuing blaze through the night According to media reports damage from the blast shockwave led to a building 3km away partially collapsing and killing a third person Local authorities have said that the blast did not release toxic substances into the surrounding area but residents were encouraged to stay indoors while the fire is tackled This story was updated on 16 January 2020 to reflect the death of one of the injured employees Site powered by Webvision Cloud Three people confirmed dead, one due to metal piece thrown off from blast, one body found on site, one worker died later in hospital, and seven more people injured ACN | Barcelona First published: January 15, 2020 10:30 AM An explosion and subsequent fire occurred in an industrial estate near Tarragona, southern Catalonia, on Tuesday evening. While the causes of the incident are still under investigation, some details, casualties and disruptions as a result are already known as emergency services continued working at the scene overnight and on Wednesday morning.  There was an explosion in a reactor tank of propylene oxide which caused a vertical column of smoke, according to Albert Ventosa, the fire chief in charge of the operation. This led to a second explosion at an industrial electricity transformer.  Firefighters are continuing to work to contain the flame in the affected tank by injecting nitrogen. As this task is automated, most of the firefighters on the scene are tasked with searching for missing people in the affected area. Interior minister Miquel Buch said that the process of extinguishing the fire is going well, but there is still a restricted area affecting seven companies in the polygon. It happened in Tarragona's petrochemical industrial estate, the biggest in southern Europe. Specifically, the incident occurred in the company IQOXE, the only firm producing ethylene oxide in the whole of Spain, in the town of La Canonja. The factory is located less than a kilometer from the N-340 national road, and between 1-3 kilometers from the closest populated area. Three people in total have been confirmed dead. Someone was reported missing after the blast, and emergency services set about searching for them. A body was found on Wednesday morning, and was later identified to be that of the missing person. On Wednesday evening a factory worker who had been transferred to hospital with serious burns died as a result of their injuries. An additional seven people were injured, three of whom remain in hospital. Of the seven injured, five were given the okay to go home by Wednesday night, while two others are still in hospital. Were there consequences outside the factory due to the explosion? Yes, one person living in Torreforta neighborhood, in Tarragona, three kilometers from IQOXE, died due to the impact of an unidentified metal object weighing hundreds of kilograms shot off from the factory after the explosion. The metal piece measured 122 x 165 centimeters.  What measures were put in place by authorities? Shortly after the incident, the 'Plaseqcat' chemical alert was issued and people in the surrounding area were told to stay indoors for the following two hours, especially those living in Vila-seca, La Canonja, and the Bonavista neighborhoods of Tarragona. Was there danger for the population due to the smoke? No, there was never evidence of toxic pollution. Security sirens were about to be activated, but when it was clear there was no danger for the population, the order was halted and no sirens were heard. This has caused controversy among some citizens, who said the only way to know they had to stay indoors were via social media and a civil protection car with loudspeakers. Get the day's biggest stories right to your phone Rescuers on Wednesday found a body at a chemical plant in northeastern Spain raising to two those killed when an explosion ripped through the facility triggering a massive blaze which raged through the night Catalan regional interior minister Miquel Buch confirmed the latest death saying a body had been located under the rubble at the site on an industrial estate in La Canonja just outside the northeastern port city of Tarragona Spain's civil protection authority also confirmed the second death identifying the victim as "an employee at the plant" reported missing on Tuesday Hundreds of firefighters battled through the night to try and contain the blaze which erupted around 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Tuesday Dramatic footage of the moment of the explosion which was caught by a CCTV camera several kilometres away showed a huge fireball lighting up the horizon One person died when a sheet of metal flung into the air by the force of the blast crashed into a house several kilometres away in the Tarragona suburbs Two others at site were rushed to hospital with severe burns while one person sustained less serious burns and five others were lightly injured Some 30 fire engines were drafted in to try and contain the blaze and cool down the propylene oxide tank Rescuers resumed the search for the missing employee at daybreak The cause of the blast at the IQOXE facility -- which specialises in the production of ethylene oxide glycol and propylene oxide -- was not immediately known But firefighters and Spain's civil protection authority said no toxic substances had been detected in the surrounding area with substances at the plant said to be highly flammable but not toxic Many local residents complained they had been left in the dark over the massive blast saying the warning sirens had not been activated We called 112 (the emergency services) and they.. I also thought it was shocking that the sirens never went off," Tarragona resident Mabel Martinez told Catalan public television TV3 La Canonja mayor Roc Munoz confirmed the sirens did not go off saying it was a crucial system to warn residents they needed to stay indoors