Unusual Rotterdam extinguisher accident kills seven workers
CARBON DIOXIDE, accidentally released from a battery of extinguishers aboard the 20,000 ton tanker “Matthieson” while the vessel was in drydock at Rotterdam, Holland, killed seven men on April 5 and caused the hospitalization of 42 others. At the moment of the accident, 39 dock-yard men were busy in the engine room performing service on the ship’s engines. Cylinder heads had been removed and heavy obstacles were spread over the engine room deck.
The engine room is protected by a carbon dioxide installation of 114 cylinders. Each bottle contained 33 kilograms (about 73 pounds) of lightly perfumed CO,. The extinguishing system has several nozzles in the bilges and also in a ring 1 meter (39.37 inches) underneath the highest platform.
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