At least two people died and twelve are missing following an explosion on Sunday at a chemical factory in Panjin Municipality, Liaoning Province, northeast China, reported the official CCTV station.
Three dozen people had minor injuries and four suffered serious injuries, said the municipality’s communication department, quoted by CCTV.
The explosion occurred at 3:13 pm on Sunday (7:13 am in Lisbon), during maintenance work on the factory’s alkalizing equipment. More details are not yet known.
The fire is under control and the environmental authorities have assured that the indicators of atmospheric pollution “are normal”, after taking air samples in the vicinity of the factory, which belongs to the company Haoye Chemical, specializing in petrochemical products.
Accidents are relatively frequent in the Chinese chemical sector, where, despite regulatory initiatives, standards remain lax.
In 2019, an explosion at a chemical plant in eastern Jiangsu province killed 78 people, prompting an inspection of all chemical plants in the country.
