Dutch chemical plant ablaze

Dutch firefighters tackle blaze at chemical plant
The Hague,Netherlands - Local authorities are warning residents to stay indoors and keep doors and windows shut as dozens of Dutch Firefighters tackle a major blaze at a chemical storage and packing company. Television images show a towering plume of thick smoke churning out of the fire at Chemie-Pack Nederland BV in an industrial estate in the southern town of Moerdijk. Moerdijk municipality said in a statement Wednesday it is not clear if the fire is releasing toxic fumes. Police say none ...

Dutch firefighters tackle blaze at chemical plant
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Local authorities warned residents to stay indoors and keep doors and windows shut Wednesday as a major blaze and Explosions ripped through a chemical storage and packing company. Television images show a towering plume of thick smoke churning out of the fire and several powerful blasts, apparently as storage tanks exploded. The fire started in the early afternoon at Chemie-Pack Nederland BV in an industrial estate in the southern town of Moerdijk. Moerdijk mayor W...

Chemical blaze sparks Dutch alert
The southern Netherlands is on its highest state of alert after a major blaze at a Chemical Plant in Moerdijk sent out a thick cloud of smoke. The cloud was floating towards the north and had reached the city of Dordrecht, Dutch media said. Some 400,000 litres of carcinogenic material are stored at the Chemie-Pack plant, De Telegraaf says. There were no reports of casualties and local officials said it was unclear if toxic fumes had been released. Troops were helping to tackle the flames, said t...

Holland: Park blaze casts toxic cloud over Rotterdam
A HUGE fire broke out at an industrial park near Rotterdam yesterday, setting off chemical Explosions, releasing toxic smoke and disrupting shipping between the Netherlands' second-biggest city and Antwerp in Belgium. The fire started at a Chemie-Pack Chemical Plant in the Moerdijk industrial zone, about 30 miles south of Rotterdam. The cause of the blaze was unknown and police said there were no reports of any casualties. However, shipping traffic at the Holla ADVERTISEMENT nds Diep river, cl...

Dutch firefighters tackle blaze at chemical plant
Local authorities told residents to stay indoors last night as some 150 Firefighters attempted to smother a huge blaze that had been raging for hours at a chemical storage and packing company. The fire started in the early afternoon at Chemie-Pack Nederland BV in an industrial estate in the southern town of Moerdijk, sending a towering plume of thick smoke into the air and causing several powerful blasts, apparently as storage tanks exploded. Police spokesman Willem van Hooijdonk told national...

Dutch firefighters tackle blaze at chemical plant
A plume of smoke billows from a burning Chemical Plant as Firefighters are seen outside the plant in the southern Dutch town of Moerdijk, Netherlands, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. Local authorities warned residents to stay indoors and keep doors and windows shut Wednesday as a major blaze and Explosions ripped through a chemical storage and packing company. Local authorities warned residents to stay indoors and keep doors and windows shut Wednesday as a major blaze and Explosions ripped through a c...

Chemical plant fire in Holland
Officials in the Netherlands have been put on high alert after a fire at Chemical Plant sent out a thick plume of smoke. People in the southern city of Dordrecht have been warned to keep their windows and doors shut amid fears of toxic fumes. Antony Weller reports....

1 killed in explosion at French chemical plant
Authorities say an Explosion at a chlorine plant in southern France has killed one person and injured another. The regional administration for the Bouches-du-Rhone region says a leak of water containing sodium prompted the explosion. The blast occurred Thursday at a plant run by Gazechim in the Mediterranean port of Lavera. The administration says in a statement that no gases have leaked outside the site. Traffic around the site has been restricted, and specialists in chemical accidents are ther...

"Explosive" Debates Expected on House Homeland Security Committee
     Terrorist Threats targeting chemical facilities in densely populated urban areas remain a serious threat to U.S. security.      If newly appointed Chair to the House Committee on Homeland Security, Representative Peter King, (R-N.Y.), has his way, Legislation regarding this grave threat will move in the opposite direction from the last congressional session.      The last session of Congress saw the House Democratic majority advoca...

The Daily News will save your job -- as long as you make a sugary, tasty, high-calorie middle-class consumer treat
I've been flipping through this morning's Daily News -- looking for my paper's crusade to save the jobs of dozens of salt-of-the-earth Philadelphians about to lose their jobs in this era of 10 percent Unemployment, when people without a highly specialized high-tech or knowledge-based skill, or of a certain age (i.e., over 50) may never be able to work ever again. I know some of these folks who work at my nearby Acme -- one of five Acme Supermarkets about to shut down. So it's a minor inconveni...

Incoming House GOP chairmen have a long list of issues to investigate
By Philip Rucker Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, January 4, 2011 House Republican leaders announced plans Monday for congressional investigations into a wide range of issues, from Corruption in Afghanistan to Washington's Regulation of private industries, using the power of their new majority to launch Probes that could embarrass the Obama Administration. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who will become chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee when the 112th Congress ...

Hair colour predicted from genes
Scientists say they have developed a way to predict a person's probable hair colour using markers in their DNA. The study paves the way for a forensic test that could estimate the hair colour of a suspect from DNA left at a crime scene. The information could then be used to refine the description of an unknown but wanted person. A Dutch-Polish team of researchers have published details in the journal Human Genetics. They could estimate with an accuracy of more than 80% whether a person'...

Gymnastics world champion Uchimura to join Konami+
Another Japan team member at last year's championships, Koji Yamamuro, 21, will also join Konami after graduating from Nippon Sport Science University together with Uchimura, 22, in March, it said. The pair will be employed by Konami, whose business interests include sports and leisure, electronic entertainment and gaming, and compete for its corporate gymnastics team. Having earlier considered enrolling in graduate school, Uchimura decided to enter a new training environment while preparing f...

Frontier forensics
Police sketches are a standard part of detective work, particularly in violent crimes. A sketch or e-fit based on an eyewitness description, together with information about height, build, age and Ethnicity can help lead police to a suspect. But how many of these details could be obtained from blood or DNA left at a crime scene? Predicting a person's outward traits - known to scientists as phenotypes - from genetic information is a newly emerging field in forensics. This research effort cou...

You Cant Buy Press Like This
Good for him: A Massachusetts woman is calling Lt. Gov. Tim Murray a hero for helping her two Grandchildren to safety after the minivan in which they were riding caught fire. Murray was driving Tuesday evening in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he lives, according to a statement from the Governor’s office. “[He] noticed a parked minivan with a tire on fire. The Lt. Governor pulled over, dialed 911, and as he was doing so, heard a nearby individual scream that there were Children in...

Massachusetts Lt. Governor Rescues Kids From Burning Van, Nearly Gets Punched In Process
So much to love about this story. Not only do you have the politician jumping into action and actually doing something for people-like pulling kids out of a burning minivan, which is what Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray did in Worcester, Mass., last night. Murray told the Worcester Telegram he and his wife were driving when they saw smoke pouring from a parked van. Pulling over, the Murrays heard someone yelling that there were Children inside the car. The Lt. Governor did “pretty much what...

Dutch minister wants detail of Iran death sentence
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal called on Iran Wednesday to provide details of the case of a Dutch-Iranian woman whose daughter says she has been sentenced to death for Drug Smuggling. Rosenthal said in a statement he was "very concerned" about the fate of Sahra Bahrami after her daughter told a Dutch Radio Station Wednesday her mother was handed the death sentence. Bahrami has been jailed in Iran since December 2009. Dutch Diplomats have been denied access to her becau...

Demeaning confrontation between Europe and its Muslim community brings misery - Will Netherlands win back its country from anti-
AMSTERDAM — Of all Europe’s great and present miseries, the one receiving the most uncertain remedies is the failing integration of its increasingly large and alienated Muslim communities. The wobbling euro, the European Union’s markedly uncertain future as a unified economic force and world political player, its Debt, growth and Deficit levels, all get daily prescriptive counsel from thousands of experts and bystanders. The markets post minute-to-minute fever charts. Up, down...

Dutch minister wants detail of Iran death sentence
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal called on Iran Wednesday to provide details of the case of a Dutch-Iranian woman whose daughter says she has been sentenced to death for Drug Smuggling. Rosenthal said in a statement he was "very concerned" about the fate of Sahra Bahrami after her daughter told a Dutch Radio Station Wednesday her mother was handed the death sentence. Bahrami has been jailed in Iran since December 2009. Dutch Diplomats have been denied access to her b...

A Protection Racket
Our regular reader and commenter Sagunto sends this interesting update on the Coptic Church Hit List situation in Holland. We reported in last night’s news feed that Al-Qaeda is threatening Coptic churches in the Netherlands, but Sagunto has even more from one of today’s Newspapers. He says: Just this morning I read about a remarkable initiative by three major Muslim organizations, to “protect” these churches. I’d liken this protection to the kind of “protecti...

Dutch query Iran death sentence
The Dutch government is seeking "clarification" of reports that a Dutch-Iranian woman has been sentenced to death in Tehran. Sahra Bahrami has been in jail for a year, reportedly after taking part in a Protest against the Iranian government. Her daughter reportedly told Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) that she was convicted of Drug Smuggling. Dutch officials say they have had no access to Ms Bahrami as Tehran does not recognise her dual nationality. "I am extremely concerned a...

2 Package Bombs Explode at Maryland Office Buildings
Two package bombs exploded today at Maryland government buildings. Officials are investigating possible Explosions at the Maryland Department of Transportation’s headquarters in Hanover and a State Government building in Annapolis. Firefighters and HazMat crews were sent to the MDOT building in the 7200 block of Corporate Center in Hanover shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday. A source has told 11 News that two packages exploded, one at the MDOT building and another at the Jeffrey Building on F...

1 Killed In Blast At Tennessee Ammunition Plant
A series of Explosions ripped through an ammunition plant in Oakland, Tenn., on Wednesday, killing one worker and injuring a Firefighter while shells fired off for about an hour afterward. Ed Gaugh, emergency management director for Fayette County, said a 34-year-old male employee died in the blast and subsequent fire at the Kinematics Research plant, which makes shells for pistols and rifles. The worker's name was not immediately released. Oakland Police Chief Rick Jewell said at one point a la...

Breaking: Explosions at Maryland State Buildings
Update: The WAPO’s coverage suggests that it was merely an “incendiary device” and not actually a bomb, and that it did not actually explode.  I guess we just have to sit back and see what develops. Not a lot is known right now.  In fact, bluntly if anyone knows more, please share.  Here’s some local coverage for now: The Anne Arundel County Fire Department is responding to a report of an Explosion in Hanover at the Department of Transportation headqu...

Inquiry after house fire rescues
An investigation is under way into a house fire in Conwy county which saw a 13-year-old girl rescuing her younger sisters. The teenager, named locally as Alishaa Williams, threw a Laptop through a window and helped the girls, aged eight and 18 months, to safety. Neighbours said thick black smoke at the Penrhyn Bay property near Llandudno prevented them from gaining access. Three adults, rescued by fire crews, were badly hurt in Monday's fire. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the adu...