Longview, Washington – The authorities have found six more bodies following a chemical leak at a paper plant in Washington, an official said Thursday, with three people still missing out of the former total of 11.

The implosion of a huge tank holding tens of thousands of gallons of a highly caustic substance at a paper plant in Longview, Washington state, sparked a major operation.

Rescuers had initially confirmed two people were dead, and ruled out finding survivors as the search turned to recovering victims' remains.

Brad Hannig, fire chief of the Longview Fire Department, told a news conference that six more bodies had been found, bringing the total confirmed dead to eight.

Donald Trump Trump White House shares bizarre tribute to Harambe the gorilla: "A true patriot"

Rescuers are working in an "active and hazardous recovery environment" to find the remaining bodies, Hannig added.

"We continue working with the coroner to notify families," he said.

Rescuers are working in an "active and hazardous recovery environment" to find the remaining victims, Hannig said.

Officers sought to reassure the public that drinking water and air around the site were not contaminated.

"Longview's water is safe," Chris Collins, public works director for the City of Longview, told the news conference.

Politicians Elizabeth Warren urges lawmakers to tax AI in effort to "invest in people"

Brooks Stanfield, a federal on-site officer from the Environmental Protection Agency, said that monitoring had not detected hydrogen sulfide or any other air contaminants that may have been a cause for concern.

The accident at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company occurred during an early morning shift change when a 900,000-gallon tank containing a large quantity of a substance called white liquor ruptured.

White liquor is a highly alkaline solution containing sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide that is used to break down wood chips and create the pulp from which paper is made.

Nippon Dynawave Packaging, a subsidiary of Japan's Nippon Paper Group, says on its website that it produces eight billion single-serve containers every year, supplying customers in North America, Asia, and around the world.