China plant explosion kills 7; second blast in Jiangsu province this month
31/03/2019 10:24
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BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) - A plant explosion in China's
Jiangsu province has killed seven people, state media reported
on Sunday, 10 days after a blast at a pesticide plant killed 78
people in the province and triggered a nationwide safety
inspection campaign.
Sunday's blast involved a container of scrap metal that
caught fire in a metal-molding plant in a bonded area in the
city of Kunshan, state news agency Xinhua said.
The cause of the blast which killed seven people and injured
five others was under investigation, Xinhua said.
The plant is owned by Kunshan Waffer Technology Corp Ltd.
6235.TW , a Taiwan-based manufacturer of magnesium alloy
injection molding products and aluminium alloy die castings.
Kunshan, about 70 km (43 miles) west of Shanghai, is home to
more than 1,000 technology companies and manufacturers,
including many Taiwanese firms.
The incident follows a deadly blast on March 21 at a
chemical park in the city of Yancheng, also in Jiangsu province,
that killed 78 people and focused attention on safety at small
chemical firms. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21A04X
China last week launched a month-long, nationwide inspection
campaign into hazardous chemicals, mines, transportation and
fire safety, saying authorities needed to absorb lessons from
the Yancheng disaster. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21F1RR
China has clamped down on scrap metal imports as part of an
environmental campaign against "foreign garbage", tightening
supply sources for metal producers, as it aims to cut solid
waste imports by the end of 2020. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21F1SP
The country has a history of major work safety accidents
which often trigger inspection campaigns aimed at rooting out
violations and punishing officials for cutting corners or
shirking their supervisory duties.
(Reporting by Yawen Chen and Tom Daly; Editing by Darren
Schuettler)
((yawen.chen@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 6627 1207; Reuters
Messaging: yawen.chen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))