What happened

Two separate incidents occurred in the same northeastern area of Chemiepark Marl: sulphur escaped and ignited in Evonik's sulphuric-acid unit, while hot combustion air escaped from a defective condenser in Sasol's adjacent sulphation unit. The site fire brigade brought both events under control and both units were initially shut, with a near-term restart expected. Three employees were described as lightly injured across the two events; one was examined in hospital and released the same night. Municipal firefighters reported no measured off-site particulate burden. This record remains 'reported' because the available detailed account is local reporting rather than a published regulator investigation, and the article's displayed publication date and internal update chronology are inconsistent; the record therefore uses month-level dating rather than inventing a precise day.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.