Basf explosion
Firefighters try to extinguish fire at the factory of chemicals giant BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany where several people had been injured following an explosion, October 17, 2016.Reuters

Several people were injured and many are missing after a massive explosion in a chemical plant owned by BASF in Germany. BASF is the largest chemical producer in the world.

Soon after the incident, the chemical giant confirmed the explosion on the social networking site Twitter and said that the blast which occurred at 11:30 a.m. in the town of Ludwigshafen in the state of Hesse had injured several people.

There are also reports of several people missing after the explosion.

According to reports by a local channel RNF, the reason behind the explosion was a filter combustion inside a unit used to make plastic additives.

"Work on a pipeline led to an explosion with secondary fires," a spokesperson for BASF said.

BASF did not provide any further details on the incident and asked the residents to avoid going out of their homes and keep their windows and doors shut while the incident was being investigated.

A footage of the incident posted on Twitter showed flames rising hundreds of feet into the air from the chemical plant.

The complex where the incident occurred is the headquarters of BASF, which employs around 33,000 people at its factory in Ludwigshafen alone.

BASF produces a wide range of industrial products including glues, petrochemicals, plastics, fertilizer and solvents.

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