Chinese villagers begin rebuilding their homes and lives after deadly chemical blast
- Zhu Han lost his wife in the explosion at a chemical plant in Jiangsu province, and now he has to tell his two young children
- Residents of Wangshang – the nearest village to the blast site – left without water and electricity, and their homes in ruins
As Zhu Han set about repairing the damage to his family home caused by the explosion at a fertiliser factory in east China he knew the worst job was still to come: telling his two children their mother was dead.
The youngsters, aged 10 and seven, were away at boarding school on Thursday afternoon when the blast at the Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical plant tore through the local neighbourhood, levelling an entire industrial estate and leaving a trail of destruction and death.
After school on Friday, the children were taken to the home of a relative for the weekend to allow their father time to clear up the mess at home and begin to come to terms with his loss.
Zhu and his wife were both working at the Chenjiagang industrial estate in Xiangshui county, an area of Yancheng, when the explosion happened. Zhu escaped with only cuts and bruises, but when he went in search of his wife he found her lifeless body in the warehouse where she worked.
Two days on, with his wife’s body lying in a funeral home awaiting cremation, Zhu said he just wanted it all to be over.
