Basel's disaster
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Firefighters were out in force on the night of November 1, 1986. (Keystone/Silvio Mettler) Keystone -
The Rhine was massively polluted by pesticides. (Keystone/Michael Kupferschmidt) Keystone -
Students at the Basel Academy of Music hold a funeral march for the Rhine. (Keystone/Michael Kupferschmidt) Keystone -
A task force cleans up after the accident. (Keystone/Michael Kupferschmidt) Keystone -
Sandoz security guards at work. (Keystone/Michael Kupferschmidt) Keystone -
More than 150,000 eels died in the Rhine. (Keystone/Gardin) Keystone -
Basel's population came out in force to demonstate against those responsible for the disaster. (Keystone/Michael Kupferschmidt) Keystone -
After the accident: more than 8,000 barrels of poisonous waste in a warehouse. (Keystone/Michael Kupferschmidt) Keystone -
Urine, blood and hair tests were used to check if humans had been contaminated. (Keystone/Michael Kupferschmidt) Keystone -
The destroyed warehouse. (RDB/Felix Aeberli) RDB -
Schools were closed across the whole region. (RDB/Felix Aeberli) RDB -
"Helvetia auf der Reise" (Helvetia travelling), a sculpture by Bettina Eichin on Basel's Middle Bridge over the Rhine. (Keystone/Michael Kupferschmidt) Keystone
How the Schweizerhalle chemical accident hit a city and its surroundings hard.
This content was published on October 26, 2011 - 14:20
On the night of November 1, 1986 a fire broke out at the Sandoz company chemical warehouse at the Schweizerhalle industrial area outside the city. The run-off from water used in fire fighting operations mixed with chemicals to become a contaminated cocktail that found its way into the River Rhine, with devastating effects.
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