Barely a month after the massive UPL pesticide warehouse exploded in Durban, another chemical factory fire broke out south of the city on 25 August, which released a cloud of poisonous fumes that sparked an official public health warning by the Ethekwini Municipality.
Government regulators are under fire as they scramble to douse growing public anxiety around chemical safety management.
For the second time in as many months, Durban residents were warned to remain indoors and keep their windows shut due to dense clouds of toxic chemical fumes – this time due to a fire and explosion at a chemical resins factory that then spread to a plastic company next door.
The fire started at the KZN Resin Factory in Balfour Road Jacobs in the early hours of 25 August. It was claimed that the fire burnt for at least five hours before eight fire tenders brought the visible flames under control. Just before 3p.m, the Ethekwini Municipality broadcast a public health warning urging nearby residents to remain indoors as the plant was still smoldering and releasing toxic smoke.
Sources: MSN
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