Two people are dead and another 12 are missing after an explosion at a chemical plant in northeastern China, underscoring the lingering problem the world’s No. 2 economy has curbing industrial accidents.
The blast at about 1:30pm on Sunday in Liaoning Province’s Panjin also left 34 people injured, China Central Television (CCTV) reported, citing local officials.
The fire at the Panjin Haoye Chemical Co facility was still burning yesteday, the state broadcaster said, although it was no longer spreading.
The incident started during installation and maintenance of equipment, CCTV added, without elaborating.
The explosion sent smoke spewing high into the sky and flames ripping through the sprawling complex, videos circulated on the Internet showed.
CCTV said that authorities had not detected any major air-quality issues in Panjin, a city of about 1.4 million people that attracts tourists to wetlands covered by a bright red plant.
The accident came as China returns to work after the disruptions of Beijing’s “zero COVID” policy, a strategy that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) deployed for nearly three years to eliminate COVID-19.
It is also the latest in a string of factory and mine accidents in the past few years. China’s coal mines suffered a spate of accidents last year that killed at least 129 people, prompting the government to announce plans for making the industry safer.
Chemical facilities have been a particular problem for regulators through the years. In 2019, the nation closed an industrial park in Jiangsu where a blast killed about 78 people and left hundreds others injured. Xi himself ordered rescuers to make all-out efforts to help victims in that incident.
The nation was shocked by an explosion at a storage site for hazardous materials in the port city of Tianjin in 2015. That disaster, which killed 173 people, spurred a nationwide review of similar facilities.
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