Difference between revisions of "Setberg disaster"
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Revision as of 13:02, 26 March 2023
   
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| Date | August 8, 1979 |
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| Also known as | 8/8 |
| Type | Industrial accident Chemical accident |
| Deaths | 1,345 |
Setberg disaster,commonly called 8/8, was a industrial accident and a chemical accident that occured on 7 August 1979 in a small town called Setberg located 3 kilometers from Hafnir in the Hafnir Municipality with a population about 20,000 near Hafnir at the time of the disaster. Today it is located in the agglomeration of Hafnir. When a fire broke out and heated the ammonium nitrate storage at the Setberg Chemical plant, which resulted in multiple explosions, causing at least 11 deaths, 7 injuries,. The explosion damaged other storages and the fire heated up further other ones till their relief valve eventually opened due to the pressure, causing the aerial release of total of 7 tonnes of chemicals, which settled over 19 km2. It resulted in the highest known exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in residential populations in Reykanes. The chain continued with when about 12 tons of the gas methyl isocyanate escaped in to the atmosphere covering 3 km in radius, killing over 1000 people. over 35,000 people in the small town and southern Hafnir were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate (MIC) and the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin . Estimates vary on the death toll, with the official number of immediate deaths being 1,345 by the end of the disaster.
