"Everything shook": residents of Bergerac describe the explosion of blowing snow

Europe 1 6:24 p.m., August 3, 2022

"We felt and heard the three explosions", explains a first resident of Bergerac, in the Dordogne, at the microphone of Europe 1. Wednesday August 3 in the afternoon, the powder snow classified Seveson "high threshold" of the company Manuco, which produces nitrocellulose for munitions, exploded.

Among the forty people who were there, eight were injured, one of them seriously.

"At that time, I thought it was planes breaking the sound barrier, but it made about the same noise and the same vibrations in the house", continues this resident interviewed by Europe 1. -ci adds that "it's worrying, especially in relation to the people who work. In Bergerac, we all know people who work there."

"It seems to be fading"

“Everything shook”, adds another resident of this town which has 27,000 souls.

"We wondered what it was, and our colleagues outside told us that there was a lot of smoke rising in the sky, and that it was coming from behind the blowing snow," she says. .

"From what I see, it seems to fade," said the resident.

"The sky is pretty clear, we don't have too many problems. Nothing came through our house. We weren't asked to evacuate or anything either, so everyone is on the move. shelter for now."

A security perimeter has been established around the site and significant resources deployed with the presence of 61 firefighters and around thirty vehicles, 20 police officers and two Samu helicopters.

At the end of the afternoon, there remained in front of the gates of the site only a truck and two fire engines.