On 21 September 2001, an

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

occurred at the AZF (French initialism for AZote Fertilisant, i.e.

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

fertiliser) fertiliser factory in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, France, belonging to the ''Grande Paroisse'' branch of the

Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

group. Three hundred tonnes of ammonium nitrate was stored (the maximum capacity was 2,000 tonnes) in hangar 221 222. The entire factory was destroyed, making a crater with a depth of about and a diameter of . Steel girders were found away from the explosion. The blast measured 3.4 on the Richter scale, with an estimated power equivalent to 20-40 tons of TNT. The explosion was heard 80 km (50 miles) away. Due to the acoustics of the hills and the large sound, the explosion was reported as occurring in multiple places. Police at first believed that at least five bombs had simultaneously gone off. There is still controversy over the exact number of explosions. The factory was close to the city: one of the most inhabited areas, ''Le Mirail'', is away. Around ten percent of the inhabitants of Toulouse had to be evacuated.

Victims

The disaster caused 31 deaths, about 30 seriously wounded, and 2,500 light casualties.government reportarchive
Two thirds of the city's windows were shattered, causing 70 eye wounds. The total damages paid by insurance groups exceeded 1.5 billion euros.

Investigation

On 4 October 2001, France's then Environment Minister Yves Cochet announced that the explosion "may have been a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

attack" (the explosion occurred ten days after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

) and identified

Hassan Jandoubi Hassan Jandoubi was a French national (born 1 March 1966, Toulouse - 21 September 2001, Toulouse) of Tunisian parents, who died on 21 September 2001, in the AZF chemical factory explosion in Toulouse in south-western France. He was subsequently inv ...

, a plant

sub-contractor A subcontractor is an individual or (in many cases) a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract. Put simply the role of a subcontractor is to execute the job they are hired by the contractor f ...

killed in the blast, as a person under investigation. French

anti-terrorist Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

authorities were prohibited by the Toulouse prosecutor from searching Jandoubi's house for five days after the incident.Paul Seabrigh
What Explosion?
London Review of Books Nov 1 2001 Police declared that Jandoubi had "possible Islamic fundamentalist sympathies," yet by the time the search was finally conducted, they said that Jandoubi's girlfriend had disposed of all traces of his clothes and photos. Authorities described the delay as damaging to the investigation.Paul Seabrigh
AZF: L'enquête assassinée
AZF:l'enquête assassinée

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

Oct 4 2001Explosion in France may have been Terrorism
The Michigan Daily Oct 5 2001
The Guardian Oct 5 2001

References

External links

*
Unofficial AZF website
*
AZF -a judicial fiasco ? (French News, 8.Oct.2008)
*
AZF: L'enquête assassinée
*
''Le Dossier AZF'' by Daniel Dissy
{{Ammonium nitrate disasters 2001 disasters in France 2001 in France 2001 industrial disasters 21st century in Occitania (administrative region) Ammonium nitrate disasters Chemical plant explosions Explosions in 2001 Explosions in France Chemical factory explosion Industrial accidents and incidents in France Industrial fires and explosions Man-made disasters in France September 2001 events in Europe TotalEnergies

Victims

Investigation

See also

References

Further reading

External links