Nippon Dynawave Disaster Remains Returned Home—Classic Hits 100.7 KLOG News

It was a bittersweet sight on Saturday as the remains of nine of the workers killed in the Nippon Dynawave disaster returned home, with community members gathering along Interstate 5 overpasses and in Longview to honor the victims.

The workers were among 11 people killed when a massive chemical storage tank holding the highly corrosive substance known as “white liquor” failed at the Longview paper mill on May 26.

The Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office led the procession from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office with assistance from the Washington State Patrol. Residents lined overpasses and roadways as the motorcade passed through Southwest Washington.

The victims were brought to the Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office in Longview, where family members were given an opportunity to reunite with their loved ones and observe a moment of silence.

Alongside the nine employees, Hailey Athey, the Kelso woman whose body was found in the Rose Valley area earlier this year after she had been missing since November 2024, was also part of the procession.

Transportation of the victims to funeral homes is expected to begin this week.

The procession came one day after the Washington Department of Ecology released the first video showing the full extent of the devastation left behind at the mill site.

The footage, recorded late last week, provides the first look inside the facility since the incident. The video shows destroyed vehicles, twisted metal debris, and the collapsed tank.

Investigators continue working to determine what caused the tank failure.