Family members have identified the first victim of Tuesday’s deadly chemical explosion at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company in Longview, Washington.
Gilbert Bernal was killed when a 900,000 gallon tank of a chemical compound ruptured at the paper mill at about 7:18 a.m., his daughter Geovana Bernal confirmed. She declined to comment further but posted about his death on Facebook.
“My dad always worked hard to provide for our family,” Geovana Bernal wrote. “My dad always pushed me to challenge myself and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without him. My father was the most selfless person I knew.”
Nine people were injured in the blast, including a firefighter, and nine more remained missing as of Wednesday morning. Authorities said they believed no one was alive inside the facility.
The fire department said about 90,000 gallons of the chemical material may remain inside the tank, making recovery efforts challenging. Recovery efforts stopped at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and were scheduled to resume Wednesday morning.
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