A fire started after an explosion on Friday at a Seveso site (low threshold) near Rouen, police said. Firefighters are working on the Saipol company's agrofuel plant, and a safety perimeter has been set up around the company.

A fire started on Friday at a Seveso site (low threshold) near Rouen, after an explosion took place at the Saipol biofuels plant located in Grand-Couronne, police announced.

"Saipol factory incident in Grand Couronne (Seveso site) POI (internal operation plan, ndr) triggered, firefighters on site. Respect the security perimeter of 500 m set up", tweeted the Seine-Maritime national police .

[#Fire] ⚠️Incident Factory Saipol in Grand-Couronne (SEVESO site).
POI triggered, firefighters @ Sdis76 on site. Respect the 500-meter security perimeter set up.
Respect the instructions transmitted on site.
➡️https: //t.co/a1gRMyZT3Npic.twitter.com/ch2zfv5u0D

- National Police 76 (@ PoliceNat76) March 13, 2020

An explosion in 2018

According to information from France Bleu Normandie, an explosion occurred and a fire broke out within the company. Factory workers then started to put out the fire while waiting for help, arriving soon after. The employees were about 50 on the spot, and were immediately evacuated, according to this same source.

The Saipol group, a French agrifood company specializing in the processing of oilseeds for the production of oils and biodiesel, has several sites in France including the factories of Grand-Couronne and Dieppe (Seine-Maritime). In February 2018, in Dieppe, two people died after an explosion in the factory. Saipol and a subcontractor have been charged with manslaughter.

>> More info to follow ...