Factory explosion kills one, injures two in Italy
06 May 2020
An explosion at a plastics factory near Naples, Italy killed one person and injured two others on May 5. The incident happened at the Adler Plastic works at Ottaviano. One of the injured people remains in a critical condition.
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Local media reported that the blast could be heard from several kilometres away, while witnesses reported seeing a large plume of black smoke rising from the factory premises.
The factory had only reopened on May 4 after the Italian government eased the lockdown in the country following the coronavirus pandemic.
Italian news website TGCOM24 reports that some employees who managed to escape the factory said the blast may have been caused by a gas cylinder exploding. One person was taken to a hospital in Naples while the more critically injured person was taken to hospital in Nola on the outskirts of Naples.
The Adler Plastic works had been operating with reduced staff working in shifts in order for employees to work safely apart.
Local government officials recommended people closed windows and doors in the aftermath of the explosion as a precaution.
An investigation into the incident has been opened.
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