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Lethal toxic gas accident in Tiszaújváros investigated again
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Six years ago, a tragedy occurred on a chemical plant in Tiszaújváros: two workers died of gas poisoning. After all this time, no one took responsibility for the accident. Since 14 June 2012, one person was accused of being responsible for the incident, but he was later acquitted.
The accident occurred in the Tiszai Vegyi Kombinát’s chemical plant when two workers were polishing a plastic container 25 meters above the surface, and nitrogen leaked into the tent. The two men died of gas poisoning in a blink of the eye, while a third worker fainted nearby. Another employee arrived at the scene and tried to rescue the men lying in the tent, but he also fell on the ground within seconds. The two unconscious workers were saved afterwards just in time.
Despite six years of investigation, the people responsible are still not found.
The former suspects were acquitted after a while. Their accusation was based on an expert’s opinion — who had passed away since then.
The police reignited the case a couple of days ago which resulted in the accusation of two other men. They are suspected to cause the two workers’ death by reckless endangerment. According to the Hungarian law, convicts can be sentenced to 2 to 8 years in prison for this crime.
The gas that feeds the pilot light cannot be nitrogen. It must have been a natural gas leak then. Nitrogen is non flammable and odorless. Natural gas is odorless unless an ingredient is added to make it detectable by smell. Nitrogen’s properties are used to prevent explosions but it also displaces air (and oxygen), making it deadly to anyone who might be in an oxygen depleted environment. Natural gas displaces oxygen also, but also creates a very explosive environment.
The area should have been tested with a leak detector ( such as a Dräger ) before workers were allowed into the tent (proper log out/tag out procedures).