Seven killed in China plant explosion; second deadly blast this month (updated)
31/03/2019 11:17
(Adds statement from city government)
BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) - A plant explosion in China's
Jiangsu province has killed seven people, authorities said on
Sunday, the second deadly blast in the province this month as
Beijing begins a nationwide industrial safety inspection
campaign.
Sunday's blast involved a container of scrap metal that
exploded in the outdoor yard of a metal-molding plant in a
bonded area in the city of Kunshan, causing the plant to catch
fire, the local government said on its official Weibo account.
"The cause of the incident is being investigated," it said
of the blast that killed seven people and injured five others,
one of whom was severely hurt.
Plant owner Kunshan Waffer Technology Corp Ltd 6235.TW , a
Taiwan-based maker of magnesium alloy injection molding products
and aluminium alloy die castings, was not immediately available
for comment.
The company was fined last May by the Kunshan environmental
protection bureau for violating water pollution rules, according
to state-owned newspaper the Beijing News.
Kunshan, about 70 km (43 miles) west of Shanghai, is home to
more than 1,000 technology companies and manufacturers,
including many Taiwanese firms.
Sunday's 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
Beijing said last week it will launch a month-long,
nationwide inspection campaign into hazardous chemicals, mines,
transportation and fire safety, adding that authorities needed
to absorb lessons from the Yancheng disaster. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21F1RR
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.
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
(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))