© AP Photo / Emilio Morenatti
There was no health risk to the residents of La Verneda neighborhood where the plant was located, said a Barcelona city government spokeswoman.
Officials were checking with the plant owners to determine what type of products exploded. Debris from the blast, including bolts, was visible on a nearby street, footage from local channel Beteve showed.
The plant is run by a firm named Proquibasa, the spokeswoman added. Proquibasa describes itself in its LinkedIN profile as one of the leading Spanish-based distributors of commodity and specialty chemicals.
In January, two people died and eight were injured in a blast at a chemical factory in Tarragona, also in Catalonia.
Comment: As mentioned above, it was only 2 months ago that a similar explosion occurred in Spain: Huge explosion rocks chemical plant in Spain, multiple casualties reported
And it's not just in Spain, see below for a list of just some of the other recent explosions at industrial plants:
- Massive explosion at chemical plant in Port Neches, Texas - UPDATE: Explosions ongoing 24 hours later - 60,000 ordered to evacuate 27th November 2019
- Again? Another massive industrial blaze breaks out in France, 100 firefighters deployed near Lyons, France October 8th 2019
- 13 dead, 72 injured in gas explosion at chemical factory, India 1st October 2019
- Another massive explosion at an arms depot in Russia 5th August 2019
See also: SOTT Exclusive: The growing threat of underground fires and explosions