Remains of six workers found after 3.4m-litre chemical tank implosion | US News

Remains belonging to six of the nine workers missing after a 3.4 million-litre chemical tank imploded in Washington state have been recovered.

It brings the total number of those confirmed and presumed dead to 11 – including the three people still unaccounted for – following the incident at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview on Tuesday.

Authorities previously said there was no hope of finding any survivors in what has been described as one of the deadliest workplace accidents in the US in recent decades.

At least eight other people, including a responding firefighter, were injured after the tank ruptured and spilled close to two million litres of a highly corrosive chemical mixture known as “white liquor”, which is used to break down wood to make kraft paper.

A number of those injured suffered burns or inhalation injuries, authorities said, with the severity of the injuries ranging from minor to critical.

Tributes paid to victims

The names of those killed have not yet been released by authorities, but friends and relatives have started to post tributes and set up fundraisers online.

Gilbert Bernal, an electrician at the plant, is believed to be the first confirmed death.

His friend Todd Cornwell told the Associated Press: “He was one of the most genuinely good people that you’ve ever met.

“He was always there willing to help in whatever needed to be done.”

CJ Doran, another of those presumed dead, was hailed as “the spiritual leader of their family, the joy of their home, and the family provider” in a GoFundMe post.

Father-of two John Forsberg, Jared Ammons – who was expecting his third child – and electrician Braydon Finkas are also believed to have lost their lives.

Mr Finkas was “a really big part of the town”, according to his friend Rex Czuba.

“He really jumped in and became a part of the community so quickly.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Nippon Paper Group, the mill’s Japanese parent company, offered its “deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families”.

Patty Murray, a US senator from Washington, called the incident an “absolute tragedy” and said that “my heart is with everyone who lost a loved one”.

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Recovery will take some time

The cause of the spill, which authorities said had not contaminated the air and drinking water in and around Longview, remains under investigation.

Fire officials said that the recovery of the remaining missing workers would be slow and deliberate because of the dangers posed by the chemicals.

Crews have been working to flush water from ditches near the plant in a bid to dilute it before pumping it into the nearby Columbia River.

The US Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that some contamination had reached the river, but that there was no noticeable effect.