AZF (French

initialism An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial letter of each word in all caps wi ...

for ''AZote Fertilisant'', i.e. nitrogen

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

) was the name of a chemical factory in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, which exploded on 21 September 2001. The blast was equivalent to 20-40 tons of

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

, producing an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.4, and was heard 80 km (50 miles) away. The incident resulted in 31 deaths and left 2,500 wounded. Damages paid by insurance companies exceeded 1.5

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: * 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of ...

euros. Although authorities initially treated the incident as an accident, the then Environment Minister speculated that the explosion may have been "a terrorist attack" in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The body of a worker known to harbor Islamic fundamentalist sympathies was found in the blast and investigated, although official investigation found the blast to be accidental. In spring of 2004, a terrorist group adopted the same name and threatened the French government with bombings.

Toulouse chemical factory explosion

On 21 September 2001, an explosion occurred in the AZF fertiliser factory in Toulouse, France, belonging to the ''Grande Paroisse'' branch of the Total group. Three hundred tonnes of

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, but does not form hydrates. It is predominantly us ...

was stored (the maximum capacity was 2,000 tonnes) in hangar #221. The whole factory was destroyed making a crater with a depth about 7 m (23 ft) and a diameter of 40 m (131 ft); steel girders were found 3 km away from the explosion. The blast measured 3.4 on the

Richter scale The Richter scale (), also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale, is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg, and pr ...

, 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 loud 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 just one kilometre away (0.6 miles). Several schools, one university campus, one hospital and a psychiatric hospital had to be evacuated.

Victims

The disaster caused 31 deaths (30 from the factory, 1 secondary school pupil from a neighbouring school), 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 complete environmental consequences of the catastrophe are not yet fully known. The total damages paid by insurance groups currently exceed 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 attack" (the explosion occurred in the weeks following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

) and identified Hassan Jandoubi, a plant sub-contractor killed in the blast, as a person under investigation. French anti-terrorist 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 alleged that Jandoubi's girlfriend had disposed of all traces of his clothes or photos. French authorities described the delay as damaging to the investigation.Paul Seabrigh
AZF: L'enquête assassinée
AZF:l'enquête assassinée

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:AZF Buildings and structures in Toulouse Chemical plants in France Companies based in Occitania (administrative region) Manufacturing plants in France TotalEnergies

Toulouse chemical factory explosion

Victims

Investigation

See also

References

Further reading

External links