According to Michael Gsponer, Head of Communication at Lonza Visp, the gas leakage occurred at 1.30 a.m. in the night from Saturday to Sunday in a production facility at the Visp plants. He thereby confirmed reports from the «Walliser Boten» and the «Nouvelliste» from Monday.
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Employees found their work colleague lying unconscious on the floor. The man died on the spot.
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The victim is a 57-year-old man from the region who has worked in the company for 28 years.
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Chemical manufacturing leak
Since the employee was found in a different location when the gas leaked, he may have died of another cause. But this is highly unlikely.
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How the gas leaked was still unclear on Monday. A basic chemical is produced in the relevant production plant, which is used in various other Lonza plants for the production of end products. The Lonza managers initially did not want to disclose which chemical or chemical mixture it was.
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There was no danger to the environment. The internal fire brigade and paramedics, as well as the Lonza environmental label, were called up immediately and had taken all necessary measures to prevent any further effects.
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Third death since 2007
The plant is in a safe condition. Nevertheless, the affected and neighboring companies were shut down. The decommissioned areas would only be restarted when the event as a whole was clarified, explained Karlen.
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The Valais public prosecutor has launched an investigation into the cause of the accident. In addition, an autopsy should clarify whether the employee died as a result of the gas leak or for a reason.
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The fatal accident at work on Sunday is the third in Lonza’s Visp works since 2007. At that time, an employee fell from a high-bay warehouse. In 2015, an explosion occurred in a production plant at the plants, in which a 56-year-old employee lost his life. (SDA)
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