Police turned over to prosecutors Thursday their professional negligence case against the Tokyo-based chemical company NOF Corp. and three of its employees in connection with an injurious explosion at the firm's factory in the town of Taketoyo, Aichi Prefecture, in 2000.
Police suspect the company and the three employees improperly handled gunpowder, causing the massive Aug. 1, 2000, blast, which injured 79 local residents.
The parties named in the probe are also suspected of violating legally required storage procedures for gunpowder and of storing unlawful explosives.
The explosion at a storage unit of the plant shattered windows and caused other damage to 888 nearby houses, police said, noting the storage facility housed 7.7 tons of gunpowder and the 79 people who were injured were hit by glass from shattered windows.