[kellyhound]

The Enschede fireworks disaster was a catastrophic fireworks explosion occurring at the SE Fireworks depot on 13 May 2000, in the eastern Dutch city of Enschede.

The fire led to an enormous explosion and shockwave which killed 23 people (including 4 firefighters) and injured 947.

The biggest blast was felt up to 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the scene.

SE Fireworks was a major importer of fireworks from China and supplier to pop concerts and major festive events in the Netherlands.

Prior to the disaster it had a good safety record and met all safety audits.

A 40 hectare area around the warehouse was destroyed by the blast.

Around 400 houses were destroyed, 15 streets incinerated and a total of 1,500 homes were damaged, leaving 1,250 people homeless - essentially obliterating the neighbourhood of Roombeek.

Ten thousand residents were evacuated.
The damage bill eventually exceeded € 450 million.

Cause:
It appeared that the fire began in the work area of the central building where some 900 kg of fireworks were stored.

This fire then extended to two full containers that had been stored illegally outside of the building.

A reaction of explosions eventually led to the ignition.The fireworks bunker ignition caused the explosion of 177 tons of fireworks, virtually destroying the area.

Dutch telephone voting in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 was suspended to free up capacity for the emergency services communications, as a mark of respect to the casualties and due to Dutch Television ending transmission of the Contest during its running, to show breaking news coverage.

The roof of a nearby supermarket collapsed due to the shockwave of the explosion.

The Firework disaster in Enschede was possibly caused by a type of firework called ijsfonteintjes (ice fountains) which mainly consists of nitrocellulose.

This type of gunpowder, also known as schietkatoen (gun cotton), is very explosive when combined with heavier fireworks.

The "ice fountains" were delivered to the firework factory, SE Fireworks, two days before the disaster happened on 13th May 2000.

The Crime Journalist Simon Vuyk wrote in his book "The Truth Behind The Firework Disaster", that the fireworks in question were a secret transport from Denmark, Secretly arranged behind the backs of the Directors at SE Fireworks by other staff members at SE Fireworks.

The Two Directors of the company were criminally charged and convicted.

A man from Enschede was tried on suspicion of arson, but the Judge cleared him in the end.

Culemborg:

Vuyk's book also contains a strong charge against the government, which the journalist claims deliberately made scapegoats out of others to keep themselves in the clear.

The Government should have intervened at other fireworks factories across the country, including SE Fireworks, after another serious firework disaster. The Culemborg accident at MS Firework in 1991.

TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) examined the destructive explosion in Culemborg (two dead, 20 injured) after which it released a detailed report.

It turned out that MS Fireworks was dangerously storing mass explosive fireworks, as was the case with SE Fireworks.

One of TNO's recommendations was that such companies should exclusively be built away from residential areas.

SE Fireworks operated unhindered, in the middle of a residential area, until the fatal day.

The government should have learned from the TNO report.

When the disaster occured in Enschede, it appeared thar the report had ended up in the archives without a single action being undertaken.

Public Prosecution Service:

A spokesman announced that The Public Prosecution Service will inspect the book.

"If there is anything in the book which sheds some new light on the case, then we shall re open the investigation into the disaster."

[mtrfckr]

i live 500 meters of where the god damn s.e bunker was :S and i bet ya it wasnt fireworks more likely ap35 mines or other military stuff, good post btw

[Hunted]

nice post KH

[Cajun]

Great Post!

[güttsfükk]

cool, never seen the supermaket collapse video before

[kellyhound]

The Firework disaster in Enschede was possibly caused by a type of firework called ijsfonteintjes (ice fountains) which mainly consists of nitrocellulose.

This type of gunpowder, also known as schietkatoen (gun cotton), is very explosive when combined with heavier fireworks.

The "ice fountains" were delivered to the firework factory, SE Fireworks, two days before the disaster happened on 13th May 2000.

The Crime Journalist Simon Vuyk wrote in his book "The Truth Behind The Firework Disaster", that the fireworks in question were a secret transport from Denmark, Secretly arranged behind the backs of the Directors at SE Fireworks by other staff members at SE Fireworks.

The Destructive explosion at SE Fireworks killed 23 people, Injured hundreds of others and wiped out the residential area Rombeek.

The Two Directors of the company were criminally charged and convicted.

A man from Enschede was tried on suspicion of arson, but the Judge cleared him in the end.

Culemborg:

Vuyk's book also contains a strong charge against the government, which the journalist claims deliberately made scapegoats out of others to keep themselves in the clear.

The Government should have intervened at other fireworks factories across the country, including SE Fireworks, after another serious firework disaster. The Culemborg accident at MS Firework in 1991.

TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) examined the destructive explosion in Culemborg (two dead, 20 injured) after which it released a detailed report.

It turned out that MS Fireworks was dangerously storing mass explosive fireworks, as was the case with SE Fireworks.

One of TNO's recommendations was that such companies should exclusively be built away from residential areas.

SE Fireworks operated unhindered, in the middle of a residential area, until the fatal day.

The government should have learned from the TNO report.

When the disaster occured in Enschede, it appeared thar the report had ended up in the archives without a single action being undertaken.

Public Prosecution Service:

A spokesman announced that The Public Prosecution Service will inspect the book.

"If there is anything in the book which sheds some new light on the case, then we shall re open the investigation into the disaster."

[Soar]

Wow.

[lbridgeland]

OMG! Wonderful post, Kelly!

[Pigeon]

What amazing footage!!! The person filming it was pretty stupid to not evacuate, though. Still, they apparently survived since the footage is intact

[BuMs]

that is to Funny xD