A third person has died in the wake of a blast at a pharmaceutical plant in the Canadian province of Quebec that wounded 18 others, officials said Sunday.
The explosion of a 15,000-liter (4,000-gallon) tank of acetone occurred Thursday afternoon at Neptune Technologies in the town of Sherbrooke, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of Montreal.
The latest victim, a man in his 40s who suffered burns on 90 percent of his body, died Saturday evening, Sylvie Robitaille, spokeswoman for the University of Montreal’s hospital center, told AFP.
He had been in an artificial coma since Thursday and was disconnected from life support in accordance with his will and after his family met with the hospital’s ethics committee.
Also Saturday, the Occupational Health and Safety Commission suspended efforts to recover thousands of liters of acetone at the plant because the building had become too unstable.
The factory’s management was set to meet Sunday to review the situation.
Blast at Canada pharma plant claims third life
