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Article

29 Jul 2019

Author:
China Labour Bulletin (Hong Kong)

China: At least 17 people killed in two major accidents at chemical plants within a week

“Two major accidents at chemical plants in China this week leave at least 17 dead”, 25 July 2019

In the second major accident in China’s chemical industry… [within a week], two people died after a fire broke out… at the Huludao Tianqi Shengye Chemical plant in the north-eastern province of Liaoning. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Six days earlier, an explosion at a gasification plant in the central province of Henan left at least 15 people dead with hundreds injured, 15 critically, according to official media reports.

The plant owned by the Henan Coal Gas Group had won numerous accolades… Just a few days before the explosion… the plant in the city of Yima, near Sanmenxia, had been inspected by local safety officials and was still listed as one of Henan’s top 72 enterprises in terms of risk prevention.

As with numerous other accidents in China’ chemical industry, government inspections either failed to uncover hazards or the enterprise management failed to take the necessary rectification measures when hazards were identified…

In the aftermath of the explosion at a hazardous materials warehouse in Tianjin that killed 173 people on 12 August 2015, the central government in Beijing demanded that strict measures be taken to ensure that all potentially hazardous chemical facilities in China were located a safe distance from residential areas.

The following year, a government inspection of the Yima plant highlighted the fact that the facility posed a “significant risk” to a nearby residential area. However, nothing was apparently done to relocate homes, businesses and schools in the potential blast zone.

There was indeed substantial damage to commercial and residential property after the 19 July explosion with hundreds of local residents injured by flying glass and other debris. A local school was in the blast zone and only avoided casualties because the students were on their summer vacation…

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