Pollution containment stepped up at site of Yancheng chemical factory blast in China
- Dangerous chemicals are being taken to new sites to prevent secondary pollution amid reports of leaks from storage tanks
- Rescue operations expanded to nearly 2 sq km, with 28 still reported missing
Pollution containment has been stepped up and rescue operations expanded in response to Thursday’s deadly pesticide plant explosion in the city of Yancheng, Jiangsu province, with officials reporting leakage from chemical storage tanks on site.
Yancheng mayor Cao Lubao on Sunday said the scope of the rescue efforts after the blast at the Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical plant had broadened from 1.1 sq km to nearly 2 sq km.
Cao said six rounds of search operations had been conducted in the first 72 hours after the explosion, which flattened the Tianjiayi plant and damaged neighbouring factories in the Chenjiagang Industrial Park. Most buildings in the park had been searched, but operations to rescue any remaining survivors continued in four factories.
The industrial accident has sparked public fear and anger, as the owners and directors of the Tianjiayi plant had been fined and warned several times for violating safety regulations, according to investigators from the Ministry of Emergency Management. Executives of the plant have now been taken into police custody.
There had been small explosions at the industrial park in Xiangshui county previously, including one that killed eight people soon after the park opened in 2007. At the time, a China Youth Daily reporter alleged the Yancheng government had sought to cover up the blast by locking up reporters or seeking to buy them off.
