Residents warned to shut doors, windows as chemical complex blaze sends smoke over Dutch town

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Students were kept late at school and residents were warned to stay inside and shut their doors and windows Monday in a southern Dutch city as firefighters battled a fierce blaze at a chemical industry complex.

Dark grey smoke billowed out of a blazing warehouse at the Chemelot complex in Geleen, 200 kilometres (120 miles) south of Amsterdam, for much of the afternoon until firefighters managed to control the fire.

The regional security co-ordination organization said there were no chemicals stored in the building that was destroyed by the fire and that no injuries were caused by the blaze or the smoke.

Three nearby railway stations and roads leading to the complex were temporarily closed amid the heavy smoke. By late afternoon, warnings for all but one neighbourhood near the blaze had been lifted.

Monday’s fire came just four days after a blaze at an ammonium plant located on the same complex.