The accident
Around 8:15 am, fire-fghters were notified about a "gas leak" in a zone of the Belgian city of Ghislenghien, approximately 50 km from Brussels. This leak on the 100-cm dameler gas pipelne (DN 1000) was evidenced by a loud hissing a tremor and the sudden creation of a cavity in the ground. At 830 am, fire-fighters requasted the aksistance of the gas utility crew and set up a safety porimeter, Soveral tens of workers were present on a plant construction site and in a number of naighbouring companies, The loak increased in intensity, forming a whitiuhapray shooting some fittoon metros high, At about 9:00 am, an explosion occurred: two minues ater. technicians were able to isolate the pipe segment between the two sectional valves. The gas cioud ignited, producing a 'tirebalr that subsequenty transtormed into a long Mare whose height was estimated at 150-200 m. Depending on the estimation source, a temperature at around 3.000c was eached in the middle ot the fireball.