[ad_1]
At least five dead and one injured after explosion at a chemical plant near Wuhan
- The explosion took place this afternoon at a chemical factory in Tianmen, Hubei.
- At least five people were killed and one was injured in the blast, authorities said.
- Images show rescue efforts underway as yellow smoke billowed over the site
An explosion at a chemical plant near the central Chinese city of Wuhan killed at least five people and injured one, according to local officials.
The blast took place around 2.15 p.m. local time today in an industrial park in the central Chinese city of Tianmen, west of the provincial capital, Wuhan, when the manufacturer’s equipment was being tested.
The injured resident was taken to a hospital for treatment while rescue efforts are underway, says a government advisory.
An explosion this afternoon at a chemical plant near the central Chinese city of Wuhan killed at least five people and injured one, according to local officials.
Eyewitness footage shows thick yellow smoke rising into the sky as a person lay on a gurney as they were pulled out of a ruined building.
Yellow smoke released from the plant could indicate a nitric acid leak, a local resident told The Beijing News.
Hubei authorities said the blast took place at a chemical plant owned by Tianmen Chutian Fine Chemicals Company that produces pharmaceutical intermediates used in the manufacture of drugs.
Before Monday’s incident, the company was fined in April after it was discovered illegally dumping sewage, according to Shanghai-based news outlet The Paper.
Eyewitness footage shows thick yellow smoke rising skyward from the plant as a person lay on a stretcher as they were pulled out of a vandalized building.
Other media reports say the chemical factory has also received multiple complaints from local residents about releasing gases that caused irritation.
Last month, another large explosion at a chemical plant in Hubei’s Xiantao city killed six people and injured four. Authorities said the incident was caused by “irregular behavior” by operators and a lack of risk identification.
Industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced.
In March last year, an explosion at a chemical plant in eastern Jiangsu province killed 78 people and injured hundreds.
Four months later, in July, a major explosion killed 15 people at a gas plant in central China.
In November 2018, a truck carrying combustible chemicals exploded at the entrance to a chemical factory in Zhangjiakou, a northern Chinese city that will be a co-host of the 2022 Winter Olympics, killing 23 people and injuring others. another 22.
One of the worst accidents was a massive explosion in 2015 at a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin that killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers. That explosion was attributed to illegal construction and unsafe storage of volatile materials.
