Across China: Guangxi

Smelting factory blast

A worker was killed and six injured after a blast ripped through a smelting factory in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region yesterday, the local work safety watchdog said.

A furnace at a lead and antimony plant in Hechi city exploded at about 7:40 am, when seven workers were clearing dregs from the furnace, said Huang Aichang, an official with the municipal work safety supervision administration. A worker died at the scene and one of the six injured was in a serious condition. An initial investigation showed the workers detected a problem in the furnace and sprayed it with cold water to cool it down for maintenance, which triggered the explosion.