Accidents
Traffic restricted due to fire in Hamburg’s port
A scrap heap burned in the Harbug district of Hamburg. photo
© Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa/Daniel Bockwoldt
A pile of scrap metal catches fire in an industrial area in Harburg. The heavy smoke paralyzes parts of the port traffic.
Because of a burning pile of scrap metal in the port of Hamburg, traffic in the first harbor street and the southern Elbe has been restricted. The smoke is so thick that visibility is no longer clear both on land and on the water, said a fire department spokesman. Due to the risk of accidents, the water police have closed the southern Elbe around the fire to shipping. Some ships have already turned around.
The first harbor road in the affected industrial area south of the Elbe was also cleared by the police. According to a police spokesman, they wanted to make sure that the extinguishing work could be carried out undisturbed. Around 80 emergency services Firefighters were involved. The burning material was to be separated using grabbers and extinguished in small fractions.
The smoke that affected the Heimfeld, Harburg and Wilhelmsburg districts came from a scrap heap that caught fire for an unknown cause. According to the fire department, around 600 square meters of metal waste was on fire on company premises. After extinguishing the fire, the police want to begin investigating to find out how the fire started.
No one was initially injured in the fire. According to the fire department spokesman, the smoke is generally harmful to health. However, no unusual pollutants have been detected so far. The extent to which the environment would be damaged was still unclear.