Explosion at pesticide firm in northwest China leaves at least 8 hurt and 6 missing, cause still unknown

More than 400 fire and rescue personnel and 47 rescue vehicles were sent to the scene of the blast in the Lanzhou company’s sewage treatment workshop

A gas pipe explosion in Shiyan last year prompted Chinese President Xi Jinping to order cadres to be vigilant and prevent major safety hazards

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At least eight people are injured and six remain missing after a blast at a chemical industrial park on Thursday evening in Lanzhou, Gansu province. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:04pm, 17 Jun 2022Updated: 4:24pm, 17 Jun 2022

At least eight people are injured and six remain missing after an explosion at a chemical industrial estate in northwest China on Thursday evening.

The blast happened at a pesticide firm in Lanzhou, Gansu province just before 7pm, according to state news agency Xinhua. More than 400 fire and rescue personnel and 47 rescue vehicles were sent to the scene. All of the injured are said to be in a stable condition.

It is not known what caused the blast – covering an area of about 600 sq metres (6,500 sq feet) – in the sewage treatment workshop of Binnong Technology in Qinchuan, Lanzhou New Area.

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Major explosions at China industrial sites

Yin Hong, secretary of the provincial party committee, went to the accident site and called for all-out efforts to search for the missing, according to a statement from the Lanzhou government.

Binnong Technology produces pesticide intermediates and pesticide products and had been carrying out trial production, according to the Lanzhou government website.

There have been several major explosions at industrial sites in China in recent years. At least 25 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a gas pipe exploded in a market in Shiyan in June last year, prompting an order from President Xi Jinping for cadres to “stay vigilant and politically sensitive” in preventing major safety hazards.

In 2019, a chemical plant blast in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, killed 78 people and injured hundreds more. The Yancheng government shut down the chemical plant after the explosion, which cost direct economic losses of 1.986 billion yuan and was so powerful it was believed to have caused a magnitude 2.2 earthquake.

Explosion at pesticide firm in northwest China leaves at least 8 hurt and 6 missing, cause still unknown

More than 400 fire and rescue personnel and 47 rescue vehicles were sent to the scene of the blast in the Lanzhou company’s sewage treatment workshop A gas pipe explosion in Shiyan last year prompted Chinese President Xi Jinping to order cadres to be vigilant and prevent major safety hazards

More than 400 fire and rescue personnel and 47 rescue vehicles were sent to the scene of the blast in the Lanzhou company’s sewage treatment workshop

A gas pipe explosion in Shiyan last year prompted Chinese President Xi Jinping to order cadres to be vigilant and prevent major safety hazards