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Five killed in factory explosion in eastern China
BEIJING, March 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Five workers were killed and three injured
in a factory explosion caused by a gas leak in eastern China, local
authorities said Saturday.
The blast happened Friday night at a perlite workshop in Shandong province,
city officials said in a statement.
All five victims were night shift workers inside the Qingzhou city factory
during the explosion. Three others outside the workshop suffered mild
injuries and are still in hospital under observation.
“The cause of the accident was initially found to be a liquefied natural
gas leak, and the specific cause is under further investigation,” the
statement said.
A company official from the Yongli Perlite Plant has also been detained by
local authorities, it added.
Perlite is a form of volcanic glass that it mined and processed, often used
in horticulture, insulation and plastics production.
The incident came barely a week after one of China’s worst recent
industrial accidents, in which an explosion at a chemical plant killed 78
people and injured hundreds.
The powerful explosion in the eastern city of Yancheng toppled several
buildings in the industrial park, blew out windows of nearby homes and even
dented metal garage doors.
It prompted the State Council, China’s cabinet, to order a nationwide
inspection of chemical firms.
Deadly industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations
are often poorly enforced.
In November, a gas leak at a plant in the northern Chinese city of
Zhangjiakou, which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, killed 24 people and
injured 21 others.
Leaked chloroethylene came in contact with a fire source causing the
explosion, authorities said in a February report that revealed the Chinese
chemical firm responsible for the accident had concealed information and
misled investigators.
In December, three students were killed in a blast at a Beijing university
laboratory during a research experiment on wastewater treatment.
Last July, a blast at a chemical plant in southwest Sichuan province left
19 dead and 12 injured. It was later revealed the company had undertaken
illegal construction which did not pass safety checks.
In 2015, China saw one of its worst industrial accidents when giant
chemical blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin killed at least 165
people.
The explosions caused more than $1 billion in damage and sparked widespread
anger at a perceived lack of transparency over the accident’s causes and its
environmental impact.
BSS/AFP/MR/1130 hrs