Authorities believe 11 people are dead in implosion at Washington state paper mill

Washington Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson told reporters Wednesday that officials believe 11 people are dead in a chemical tank implosion that occurred at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at approximately 7:15 a.m. local time and the tank contained white liquor, which is a mix of sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfide and disodium carbonate.

Officials said seven people were injured in the implosion, two people have been confirmed dead and nine people remain missing. None of the missing people are expected to have survived, Ferguson said in a news conference, per NBC News.

“We’re bracing ourselves for this being the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern Washington state history," he said. "When you have a tragedy of that scale, the impacts on individuals, on families, and on communities is profound."

Cowlitz County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said his team has characterized the operation now from a rescue to a recovery.

“We have searched the area, the area that is searchable," Goldstein said. "We do not have the ability to state that we have located all nine, nor the ability to state where those nine were."

The root cause of the implosion has not been identified so far.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.