Daijiworld Media Network – Washington

Washington, May 27: At least five people were killed and several others injured after a powerful explosion rocked a packaging facility in Washington state on Tuesday morning, local authorities said.

The blast occurred at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility in Longview, Washington. The company and the Longview Fire Department confirmed the incident in a joint statement, adding that there was no immediate threat to nearby residents.

Fire Battalion Chief Mike Gorsuch said five people lost their lives in the explosion, while up to eight others remained unaccounted for. Ten people, including a firefighter, were taken to hospital with injuries.

According to officials, the explosion occurred after the rupture of a tank containing “white liquor”, a highly caustic chemical solution used in the paper manufacturing process to soften wood pulp.

Hazardous material response teams continued operations at the site as authorities monitored the situation.

The Longview facility manufactures nearly 300,000 tonnes of paperboard annually for cartons, cups and market pulp, according to information available on the company’s website.

Longview, a city with a population of around 35,000, is located along the Columbia River in southwest Washington state, nearly an hour away from Portland, Oregon.

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson stated on X that teams from the state’s Department of Labor and Industries and Department of Ecology had been deployed to the scene, while National Guard units had been kept on alert.

Nippon Dynawave Packaging is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Nippon Paper Group Inc.