16 suffer burns in Batangas sugar factory accident

NASUGBU, Batangas, Philippines–Sixteen  workers in one of the country’s largest and oldest sugar refineries located in Nasugbu town, Batangas province, suffered burns caused by a toxic chemical accidentally mixed into the water used for cleaning a large steel pipe.

Nasugbu police chief Superintendent Marlo Torina said the workers at  Central Azucarera Don Pedro Inc. (CADP) were inside and cleaning the huge pipe when the accident took place around 7 p.m. on Good Friday.

“For you to imagine, [the pipe] was large enough for

16 people to fit in and as tall as a one-story building. It is used to cook the sugar,” Torina said in a phone interview on Saturday.

While cleaning, Torina said water sprinklers in the pipe were kept on. “They had been inside for half an hour when they suddenly noticed something different coming out of the sprinklers,” he said.

It turned out that caustic soda, a chemical also used for cleaning the pipe, was mixed into the water and showered on the workers inside the pipe.

“We know it more popularly as Liquid Sosa,” Torina said. Liquid Sosa or liquid lye is usually used in households to unclog drainage or pipes.

The workers, he said, scampered out of the pipe and were rushed to  Western Medical Center in Balayan town.

Of the 16, seven were injured in the eyes and remained under hospital confinement as of Saturday afternoon.

A certain Mario de la Cuesta, also an employee, was identified by the police as the one manning the valves that controlled the release of the water and the chemical into the pipe when the accident happened.

But Torina said investigation was continuing to determine if De la Cuesta was actually liable for the injuries.

CADP is controlled by Roxas Holdings Inc., the largest biosugar and bioenergy company in the Philippines, according to its website.