China chemical factory explosion kills 47 in blast so big it caused earthquake

The blast happened yesterday at the Chenjiagang Industrial Park in the city of Yancheng, in Jiangsu province, with firefighters eventually bringing it under control at 3am today (7pm yesterday GMT). Survivors were brought to 16 hospitals with a total of 640 people being treated for injuries, including 32 in critical condition. The fire at the pesticide plant owned by the Tianjiayi Chemical Company quickly spread to neighbouring factories and children at a nearby kindergarten were also injured in the blast, which resulted in a magnitude 3.0 earthquake, media reported.

Eyewitnesses saw the fireball in the skies over the city, with shocking footage shared on social media.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosion.

However, the company – which produces more than 30 organic chemical compounds, some highly flammable – has been cited and fined for work safety violations in the past, the China Daily newspaper reported.

President Xi Jinping, who is in Italy on a state visit, ordered all-out efforts to care for the injured and to “earnestly maintain social stability”, state television said.

Authorities must step up action to prevent such incidents from happening and find out the cause of the blast as quickly as possible, Xi said.

He added: ”There have recently been a series of major accidents, and all places and relevant departments must fully learn the lessons from these.”

The Jiangsu environmental protection bureau said yesterday the environmental monitoring station in the area had found no abnormal concentrations of toluene, xylene or benzene.

Concentrations of acetone and chloroform outside the perimeter of the explosion zone were also within normal limits, it added.

Jiangsu will carry out inspections on chemical producers and warehouses, according to an emergency notice published by official media on Friday.

The notice, which was published on the news website of Jiangsu province’s Communist Party, said the government would shut down any chemical firms found not to be complying with regulations on dangerous chemicals.

Public anger over safety standards has grown in China as a result of industrial accidents which have ranged from mining disasters to factory fires, and which have marred three decades of swift economic growth.

In 2015, 165 people were killed in a series of explosions at a chemical warehouse in the northern city of Tianjin.

The explosions at Tianjin, which is one of the world’s busiest ports and which is close to the capital, Beijing, were big enough to be seen by satellites and register on earthquake sensors.

Despite repeated pledges by the government to tighten safety, chemical plants in particular have been plagued by disasters.

Last July, a blast at a chemical plant in southwest Sichuan province left 19 dead and 12 injured.

And in November, a series of blasts during the delivery of a flammable gas at a chemical manufacturer killed 23 people.

source: express.co.uk