In a massive chemical plant explosion in eastern China, at least five people have died and 19 have been injured, according to reports from state media.
According to Chinese state media and the state-run Xinhua agency, six people are still missing after the explosion at the Shandong Youdao Chemical plant in the city of Weifang in Shandong province late on Tuesday morning.
According to them, the plant, which is situated in a park, produces chemical components for use in pharmaceuticals and pesticides.
Orange and black smoke plumes atop the sky were captured in videos that were posted on Chinese social media and were verified by the Reuters news agency.
One of the videos revealed that the explosion had removed the windows from nearby buildings’ hinges.
More than 230 responders were dispatched to the scene in response to the explosion and the blaze that started, according to CCTV.
Smoke emitted from a second, unidentified facility close to the chemical plant and from a second, unidentified facility was captured by a drone video posted by The Beijing News, a government-run publication.
A textile company, a machinery company, and an industrial coating material manufacturing company are listed next to Youdao’s plant in Baidu Maps, a navigation app.
No results were made available at the time the Weifang Ecological Environment Bureau conducted a site-test at the blast site, according to the company’s statement. According to The Beijing News, it advised residents in the vicinity to use face masks in the interim.
A local resident who declined to be identified because of fear of reprisals claimed in a video that his home, which is located more than 7 kilometers (4. 3 miles) from the plant, shook as a result of the explosion’s impact.
Response teams should quickly contain the fire and count the people who were impacted, according to a statement from China’s emergency response authority.
According to the company’s website, Shandong Youdao Chemical was founded in the Gaomi Renhe chemical park in Weifang in August 2019. The plant employs more than 300 people and has a total area of 47 hectares (116 acres).
In recent years, there have been blasts at chemical plants in China, including one in the northwest of Ningxia in 2024 and another in Jiangxi, in 2023.
More than 170 people were killed and 700 were hurt in two massive explosions that occurred in Tianjin’s port city in 2015, which also left 700 people injured. The incident led to the government enforcing regulations governing chemical storage.
13 people were killed in a second explosion at a Shandong chemical plant in 2015.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply