Brazil: Santos Terminal Fire

A blaze lasted 40 hours at the Tecon Santos terminal on January 15, 2016. Vessels were sent to other container terminals to avoid toxic clouds. This unfortunate situation was caused by water penetration in a container causing chemical reactions. Toxic smoke sent 70 people to the hospital and over 500 local residents were evacuated.

“We need a much better system of controls and checks in the port of Santos, especially for the terminals that are handling hazardous products,” Paulo Saldiva, a researcher in the University of Sao Paulo Environmental health department, told Globo News.

The terminal, owned by Santos Brasil, South America’s biggest container handling company, handled 1.2 million, or 34 percent of the port’s 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units, during the first 11 months of last year according to JOC.

Smoke rises from a tank at a warehouse in the coastal city of Guaruja, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016. Photo Source: latino.foxnews.com