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"Infierno" Leaves
Three Injured, Hundreds in
Shelter in Limón
A fire at a chemical storage
facility on Costa Rica's
Caribbean town of Moín injured
three people and sent hundreds
to shelters on Wednesday and
forcing the nation's largest
port to suspend operations,
officials said.
The blaze at Quimicos Holanda
near the port of Moin, 130
kilometres east of San José,
began when paint thinner leaked
from a truck and caught fire.
The flames quickly spread,
causing tanks storing chemicals
to explode.
Black smoke billowed into the
sky as firefighters sprayed the
flames with white foam and sea
water.
Three people were seriously
injured from the explosion and
fire and were airlifted to the
San Juan de Dios and México
hospitals in San José where this
morning they continued in
delicate condition.
A dozen more suffered minor
injuries and one man, who worked
at the plant, is still missing.
The fire was called an "infierno"
that unofficially is being
blamed on the poor management of
a highly flammable product as it
was being loaded onto a
container truck. The fire began
just before 11:00am, clausing a
huge toxic cloud to hang over
the port town, as inland winds
placed many residents at risk.
Residents of the area
surrounding the plant fire were
evacuated to a makeshift shelter
at the "polideportivo" operated
by the port authority, as the
Comisión Nacional de Emergencias
provided food and bedding for
them.
The evacuation was a precaution
to avoid injuries from the toxic
cloud of smoke that produced by
the fire that raged for some 11
hours before firefighters were
able to bring it under control
by 10:00 pm last night.
The accident caught the
attention of the world media as
the Spanish language CNN news
broadcast live footage from
Costa Rica. A number of news
feed agencies made claim of a
number of deaths and hundreds
injured. Those early reports
were quickly discarded as the
situation was brought under
control by Costa Rican
authorities.
Fireighters, Cruz Roja (Red
Cross) workers and police were
called in from every corner of
the country to help battle the
infierno that was made worse by
the constant explosions and the
intense heat from the five
simultaneous fires that burned
out of control.
About 30% of Limón city
residents were left without
water as firefighters asked the
AyA (water utility company) to
divert all water to their hoses
in their effort to battle the
blaze.
Before midnight the fire was
completely put out and this
morning the task of finding the
cause of the fire and the clean
up begins of an event that will
be remembered by local residents
for many years to come.
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