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Chinese chemical firm ‘misled’ investigators over deadly blast
BEIJING, Feb 3, 2019 (BSS//AFP) – The Chinese chemical firm responsible
for an explosion that killed 24 people and injured 21 others in northern
China last year hid information and misled investigators, said local
authorities in a report published Sunday.
A gas leak caused the explosion last November at a PVC production plant in
Zhangjiakou, a northern Chinese city in Hebei province that will host part of
the 2022 Winter Olympics.
“After the accident occurred, Hebei Shenghua Chemical Industry Company did
not report (the incident) to relevant government departments in accordance
with regulations, concealed the accident, and misled investigators,” said the
emergency management department of northern Hebei province.
In its report, local authorities also pointed to the company’s lack of
safety measures and “chaotic” management for contributing to the blast.
Those in charge of key departments were “not at the company for long
periods of time” and violations of labour regulations by employees were
common, including playing on their mobile phones and sleeping during work
hours, said the report.
Police have investigated and taken “criminal compulsory measures” against
twelve employees and thirteen local officials have been “punished”, the
report said, without offering details.
The report also recommended Shenghua Chemical Company, a subsidiary of
ChemChina, pay a 9.49 million yuan ($1.41 million) fine.
The Zhangjiakou blast is the latest alleged corporate cover-up in China,
where industrial accidents are common as safety regulations are often poorly
enforced.
A few weeks before the explosion, a chemical spill left dozens ill in
eastern Fujian province. Later that month, authorities said the company
responsible for the incident had “deliberately concealed” the extent of the
leak.
The Fujian Donggang Petrochemical Company had reported 6.97 tonnes of
chemicals had spilled into the sea, when the true amount was 10 times higher.
In August 2015, 165 people were killed in a chemical warehouse explosion
in the port city of Tianjin.
The government found that the disaster was caused by improperly or
illegally stored hazardous materials.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1800HRS