Regional health alert issued in Spain after explosion at a chemical plant near Seville

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — An explosion at a chemical plant near the Spanish city of Seville on Wednesday sent a huge column of thick black smoke into the air and prompted authorities to warn residents to stay indoors.

Regional authorities for Andalusia reported two people were injured as a result of the blast. One plant worker suffered light burns and a firefighter felt ill, authorities said without giving more details.

It is the latest in a series of apparently unrelated incidents recently impacting Spain’s infrastructure, including a nationwide power outage that also hit Portugal.

The fire prompted officials to send messages to the mobile phones of some 25,000 residents within a radius of three kilometers (1.8 miles) of the explosion recommending that they wear face masks or close their windows.

The explosion occurred midday in an industrial park in the municipality of Alcalá de Guadaíra, about 16 kilometers east of Seville’s city center. Emergency services cleared personnel from the plant site.

Authorities have not said what chemicals were involved in explosion.

Spanish state broadcaster TVE and other media, including the local Diario de Sevilla newspaper, reported that the explosion occurred on the premises of Plainsur, a company that packages and distributes chemical products. The company occupies some 11,000 m2 at the industrial plant, including a large warehouse, according to its website.

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It is the second fire at a chemical plant in Spain in recent days.

On Saturday, a fire at a chemical factory in northeastern Spain forced emergency services to issue health warnings to 150,000 residents and stay-indoors orders for five nearby towns.

On April 28, the massive power outage hit Spain and Portugal. Authorities are still investigating but have ruled out a cyber attack or sabotage.

That was followed by major train disruption between Madrid and Seville, caused by thieves who stole copper cabling from a trail line.

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A previous version of this story included information from officials that they had issued warnings to the population of Alcalá de Guadaíra, which is home to 77,000 residents, before they later specified that the alerts reached 25,000 people.