An explosion occurred at a Rheinmetall munitions factory in the Spanish province of Murcia on Thursday, Spanish media reported citing emergency services.
Six people were injured, according to radio stations. Onda Regional reports that a tanker exploded at a gunpowder factory in the neighbourhood of Havali Viejo, Heraldo also writes about a tank exploding.
The victims suffered burns and smoke poisoning, one of them sustained head injuries. The injuries of one of the victims are assessed as serious, the radio station reports. All of the injured were hospitalised, it said, and are between 30 and 52 years old. Heraldo writes that all the injured are workers at the plant.
The explosion sounded around 16:20 local time. After it, a fire broke out at the site, which engulfed 2,000 square metres, mostly overgrown with brush. A forest area was burning and there were two fires, the flames also covered an area of 1 thousand square metres. The fire has already been extinguished.
The Murcia Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has been notified of the incident for further investigation.
Rheinmetall is one of the largest arms suppliers to Ukraine. The Javali-Viejo arms factory is one of seven that the international concern owns in Spain. Rheinmetall is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.
A year ago, on January 25, 2024, two workers at the same plant in Spain suffered serious burns in a solvent fire.
