Society

7 injured in pesticide plant explosion

By Chen Xin and Zhao Ruixue (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-09 08:09

Accident blows out windows in nearby village

Black smoke billows from a tank at the Zhongshi Chemical Co Ltd in Liaocheng city of Shandong province, where an explosion occurred early on Wednesday, Dec 8, 2010. [Photo / Xinhua]

LIAOCHENG, Shandong - A pesticide factory explosion injured seven people in East China's Shandong province on Wednesday, local authorities said.

The blast occurred at 5:40 am at Zhongshi Chemical Co Ltd in Yanggu county, Liaocheng city.

The fire was extinguished at about 5 pm, but huge black clouds could still be seen rising from factory tanks.

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Local media reported pungent chemical odors could be smelled 200 meters from the site on Wednesday afternoon, and the bounding walls around the tanks had collapsed.

More than 8,000 residents were evacuated after the blast, local authorities said.

Residents of Baliying, a village 2 kilometers from the factory, said the windows of most of their buildings were shattered and some tap-water pipes had cracked.

Villager Pan Dongzheng said he was asleep when the blast occurred.

"I heard a deafening sound, and I felt my house shake. I assumed it was an earthquake," the 58-year-old said. "The windows of my house all shattered."

Six people were slightly injured, and one man broke his leg. All have been hospitalized.

Factory worker Li Jixing, who suffered a minor injury, said he was working the graveyard shift when the blast took place.

"I heard a small blast sound," he said.

"I looked up and saw the roof was on fire, and some liquid leaked to my head. Then, the pipes attached to the ceiling all started to fall. I desperately ran out of the plant."

Li said there were 30 employees in the factory in which he worked and six in the neighboring one. They all escaped before the explosion.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

But preliminary findings concluded the explosion was triggered by a fire that started in the oil contained in one of the tanks.

Local residents said the plant had three tanks - one filled with industrial alcohol and the others with liquid chemicals and oil.

Rescuers, medical staff and 14 fire trucks were dispatched to the scene after the blast, local authorities said.

The factory produces pesticides, herbicides and tackiness agents, and employs about 700.

Wang Qian contributed to this story.