Fire at BASF chemicals plant in Germany extinguished; 14 hurt

BERLIN (Reuters) - A fire that broke out at German chemicals giant BASF's plant in Ludwigshafen has been extinguished, a company spokesperson and police said on Monday.

Fourteen workers sustained minor injuries in the incident, which occurred when an explosion set off a blaze in a southern section of the company's headquarters, a BASF statement said.

The company did not provide details on whether there was any impact on production.

BASF said its environmental control vehicles measured slightly elevated levels of hydrocarbons in the area but that there was no threat to the public.

A column of smoke was visible from outside the premises.

Shares in the company were down 2% at midday, after falling by as much as 2.8% earlier on news of the fire.

(Reporting by Friederike Heine, Editing by Rachel More and Bernadette Baum)