Management failings are to blame for last year’s massive fire at a chemicals packaging company in Moerdijk, near Rotterdam, according to a safety council report on the blaze, Nos television reports.

The report, which has not yet been officially published, says Chemie-Pack failed to meet operating permit conditions and did not keep to its own policy or procedures. This led to the company ‘failing to take any safety measures to manage the fire,’ Nos quoted the report as saying.
The report also criticises the local Moerdijk council which was aware the company was not meeting the conditions of its licence but did not sharpen up supervision, let alone close it down.
Left-wing green party GroenLinks has called for a debate on the findings and their implications for public safety with justice minister Ivo Opstelten.
The cost of the damage and the clean-up operation after the fire is put at €71m. Chemi-Pack was declared bankrupt in August.