Posted on 07/29/2006 7:58:51 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
China: 22 killed in chemical blast
BEIJING, China (AP) -- The death toll in a chemical plant explosion in eastern China jumped to 22, with 28 people still missing, as thousands of evacuees were allowed to return home, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.
Friday's blast at Fuyuan Chemical Plant in Jiangsu province shattered the facility, a joint venture between China and Germany that had not yet begun production, Xinhua said.
Local workplace safety officials said 71 people were inside the plant when the explosion occurred and 21 managed to escape, according to Xinhua.
Authorities had put the death toll at 16 earlier Saturday. Xinhua did not give details on the new deaths.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation, said an official from the government of Sheyang county, where the plant is located.
But it was likely caused by "improper operations by workers," said the official, who would give only his surname, Dai. He gave no other details.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Ping!
Nasty stuff, we used it to treat higher grade oxide ore before the cyanide leach. A nonfatal accident with very small amount did really bad things to a mechanic's lungs as I recall.
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