Overview

• Officials ended shelter-in-place alerts overnight after continuous monitoring around Aschaffenburg detected no dangerous levels in the air.
• The incident began when a large metal part fell into a roughly 6,000‑liter nitric acid bath at a Mainaschaff galvanizing facility, triggering a chemical reaction and an orange plume.
• Emergency services identified the emissions as nitrose gases, which are highly toxic and led to NINA and KatWarn alerts that labeled the situation extreme danger.
• Between roughly 250 and 400 responders, including hazmat teams, cooled the tank, transferred acid to another basin and used water fog to suppress the plume.
• Four employees were reported with minor injuries, and police and technical specialists are investigating the cause and structural safety before granting full access to the affected building.