A worker at the Chemie-Pack chemicals plant near Rotterdam, which was destroyed by fire in January, has admitted being responsible for the blaze, Nos television reported on Sunday.

The man, who worked for the Moerdijk company for 13 years, has been granted immunity from prosecution in return for his testimony, sources told the broadcaster.

The man has reportedly admitted causing the fire by using a gas burner to try to thaw out a frozen pump. This set the pipeline used to move chemicals between the storage tanks on fire, The fire then quickly spread to the tanks which exploded.

Seven months

Nos says the worker told the plant’s director Gerard Spiering that the pump had burst into flames but that he did not know what had caused it. It was not until July 4, nearly seven months after the fire, that he finally told police what his role in the fire had been.

The public prosecution service has declined to comment on the claims, Nos says.

On December 9, Spiering, the plant’s safety coordinator and production leader are due to appear in court charged with starting the fire by reckless behaviour and breaking environmental laws.

Chemie-Pack was declared bankrupt in August after being presented with a €14m clean-up bill by the local fire service. Damage caused to other business and crops following the fire is put at €4m.