2 workers killed in explosion at Spanish biodiesel plant

MADRID

An explosion at a biodiesel plant in the Spanish region of La Rioja on Thursday afternoon killed at least two workers.

The explosion in the municipality of Calahorra gave way to fire and large plumes of black smoke, but firefighters had the situation “under control” in 90 minutes, according to Elisa Garrido, the town’s mayor.

At the time of the blast, a group of Spanish Civil Guard police officers specialized in explosives were doing drills in the area, which helped emergency services access the scene extremely quickly, Spanish daily El Pais reported.

The workers who died were aged 30 and 41.

A group of 250 children was also on a field trip in the area and had to be evacuated. None of them were injured.

While authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosion, human error is believed to be a possibility.