|
Death toll rises to 5 in chemical plant blasts
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-14 21:55
The death toll from the chemical plant explosion in northeastern Jilin
Province rose to five as rescuers found the remains of four more workers, the
local government confirmed Monday.
Smoke billows out after a series of blasts hit
a chemical factory in Jilin City, Northeast China's Jilin Province Sunday
November 13, 2005. One worker was killed and five others were missing,
with 70 others wounded. [Xinhua] |
Another worker is still missing, but the chance for him to survive is very
slim, said an official with the provincial government at the site Monday
evening.
The two workers who got seriously injured in Sunday's explosion have been out
of danger, according to doctors from the hospital of the China National
Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Jilin Petrochemical Company, owner of the plant.
As the fire was brought under control, local residents and students of two
colleges near the chemical plant have returned from an emergency evacuation
conducted shortly after the explosions.
The blasts took place at about 1:45 p.m. Sunday in a workshop of the No. 101
Chemical Plant under the CNPC Jilin Petrochemical Company based in Jilin City,
some 100 km east to Changchun, the provincial capital. Some 70 people were
injured and six people were reported missing.
The fire caused by improper handling of a problem in a tower that processed
benzene, a highly flammable liquid, was extinguished at around 4 a.m. Monday. No
toxic gas was detected inthe air of the affected district, according to
corporate sources.
The local government has kept monitoring the air and water quality in the
area, and further investigation into the blast is being made.
The work on compensation for the explosion victims also began on Monday,
according to the Jilin Petrochemical Company.
"We will take lessons from this accident to improve safety facilities in
production," said Yu Li, general manager of the CNPC Jilin
branch.
|
