Posted on 04/20/2007 6:38:49 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Workers recount tragedy at China steel factory
by Robert J. Saiget
Thu Apr 19, 3:18 AM ET
Survivors of a horrific industrial accident in northeast China Thursday recounted the gruesome scene at their factory when 26 tonnes of molten steel poured into a meeting room, killing 32 workers.
A steel ladle sheared off a blast furnace, sending liquid metal into the room and engulfing workers as they prepared for their shift Wednesday morning.
"All those boys are gone, only the guys that were just about to get off work were lucky enough to escape," the Beijing News quoted survivor Jiao Zhengyan as saying.
"The molten steel is 1,500 Centigrade (2,732 degrees Fahrenheit) as it hits the ground and spills all over, the heat wave rushes over you and your clothes burn off. I didn't have time to think about it, I just ran to save my life."
The accident happened at Qinghe Special Steel Corp, a relatively modern facility in China's former industrial heartland in Liaoning province.
Six other workers were injured in the accident with one suffering burns over 60 percent of his body.
Those killed in the accident were burnt beyond recognition, and authorities said they would have to use DNA testing to identify the victims.
"Right after the accident, I went to the scene, but there was no one in the room, they had all been consumed by the steel," another unidentified worker at the factory told the New Express daily. "All that was in the room was a 70-square-meter block of steel."
Worker Jiao said he was near the ladle when an apparent brake failure on the crane sent the bucket crashing into a platform car and raining liquid steel onto the workers.
"It hit a platform car and then started spilling molten steel in the direction of the shift transfer room where they were having their safety meeting. That was the most tragic moment," said Jiao, 38.
Another survivor, Zhou Xiaofei, said a shower of molten steel began raining down on him as he exited the factory as fast as he could.
"We were preparing to change the shift when suddenly I heard a loud bang, I immediately knew something was wrong, and I ran for my life, but big drops of molten steel spilled on me," Zhou said.
"I just ran, if I had hesitated for a moment, even to turn and look, then I might not have made it out of there alive."
Zhou went into surgery at a local hospital on Thursday, suffering burns over his face, arms and legs.
The accident highlights China's dismal industrial safety record and came as the government prepared to announce Thursday yet another double-digit expansion of the nation's booming economy in the first quarter of 2007.
The head of the workshop where the accident occurred and the machine operator and technician of the workshop have all been taken into custody and are under investigation, local police said.
"Families of victims will receive at least 200,000 yuan (25,800 dollars) each in compensation," Xinhua reported, quoting unnamed officials.
China's work safety administration said the factory employed some 300 workers, while Xinhua said the plant was relatively new, established in 1987, and employed 650 workers.
It was unpleasent, but very quick.
Prayers for their souls and for their families.
"I just ran, if I had hesitated for a moment, even to turn and look, then I might not have made it out of there alive."
Sometimes you just have to literally " run for your life ".
Gadzooks! You are correct...
Then the Liberal Democrats would outlaw Second Hand Steel...
And enact a 5-day Waiting Period for molten steel...
Harry Reid would declare we lost the steel war and have us go back to using wood instead of metal...
Algore would applaud the ending of the American steel carbon footprint that has damaged the Earth almost beyond repair...
Cho is dealing with fires that make this feel like an ice cube right about now.
How is it the meeting room was that close to the blast furnace?
I am temped to add the Corps of Engineers...
But I know that is due to many, many years ago my being a quality control engineer for a construction firm building a logistical materials storage facility at Kelly AFB and finding the Corps has kicked back a 103 page report on concrete testing. This was precomputer days and it took a week to find the error: a comma blunder on a footnote!
BTW Millee, I went fishing today...
And there was a fictitious character there!
The Old Man... 
and the Lake!
> Talk about irony...
You mean... IRON-y
> Swimming in a liquid steel pool
Gollum... gollum.
You may want to check the manufacture date before you buy your next made in China grill at Walmart. Chinese anyone?
NFW that will happen old sport. That's one of their "competitive advantage"s.
Ah, easily explained: steel isn't melted by "fire", it's melted by heat, i.e., it's the difference between cooking your food on an electric burner instead of a gas range. Everybody knows that "heat" is hotter than actual flame.
Eric Hoffer once noted that the minute unions are not distinguishable from management or the state, workers have no protections whatsoever. Unions, for all their flaws, are important, but only if they are autonomous and independent. Anything else leaves workers powerless.
I thought so as well... which is why I don't understand this ~~
"authorities said they would have to use DNA testing to identify the victims...All that was in the room was a 70-square-meter block of steel..."
Can someone explain this to me...
What are they going to DNA test? The block of steel?
And secondly, wouldn't the DNA have been completely destroyed as well?
Thanks
Talk about irony...
...and bad puns.
I don’t think there is anything in or immediately around the “block of steel”.
The only remains that possibly could have survived were anything that was blown clear, as null and void pointed out in #42.
Chemical bonds have a certain stability based on the type of bonding. Some
bonds are quite strong The following are covalent bond strengths.
Bond Bond Strength(kJ/mole); Bond Bond Strength (kJ/mole)
Cl-Cl 239 H-Cl 427
H-H 432 C-H 413
N N 941 N-H 391
Bond strength can be overcome by adding heat...The GC and AT bonds in DNA
are hydrogen bonds (non-covalent) and can also be overcome with heat.
these hydrogen bonds are about 71 kilojoules per mole...relatively weak (but
strong in large numbers) and can be broken and reformed by heating and
cooling. This is the secret behind the polymerase chain reaction.
Faletra, Peter, Argonne National Labs
care to translate that?
AH!
DNA breaks down in heat.
Somre parts are strong and withstand high temperatures, some part of DNA are not as strong.
Ask anything beyond that, better get Physicist or grey_whiskers to help.
Now, how they get into a 70 square meter clump of cooling steel to recover said DNA, I have no idea.
That is what? 215 feet by 215 feet? What wall is going to withstand that much mass and heat?
Wonder how thick the resulting slag is in that room?
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