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April 22, 2004 |
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Chlor-alkali plant explosion in China leads to evacuation |
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Jean-François Tremblay |
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Nine people died and 150,000 were temporarily
evacuated following explosions at a leaking chlor-alkali plant
in a densely populated part of Chongqing, southwestern China, on
April 15. Authorities were alerted to problems at the plant following
an initial explosion. Rescue workers entered the site but withdrew
a few hours later, just before a larger explosion that created
a yellow mushroom cloud. Two days after the explosions, authorities
decided to stop the leak by blowing up three remaining chlorine
tanks with armor-piercing shells fired from a military tank. Miao
Guang Kui, director of the rescue team, told the Xinhua News Agency
that the accident occurred after plant workers started to pump
chlorine out of tanks that were leaking. This led to a rise of
temperature inside the tanks and the explosion of five of them,
Miao said. The factory, Chongqing Tianyuan Chemical, is an old
complex that employs 4,000 people and is part of the state-owned
Chongqing Chemical & Pharmaceutical
Holding Group. In an interview with C&EN last month, Miao,
who is also the chairman of CCPHG, said that some managers in his
group of companies were unprofessional. He also acknowledged that
several of the plants were old and located too close to population
centers (C&EN,
March 29, page 14).
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Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2004 |
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