Free Republic

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...

Water polluted by the chemical benzene in the Songhua River arrived at Harbin city's upstream water retrieval point, Sifangtai, at 5:00am on November 24. The polluted water will have passed the Harbin metropolitan area on the morning of November 26. After that, it will join the Hulan River, Tangwang River and Mudajiang River. Hopefully, with the increased water volume, dilution, sedimentation, adsorption, and other physical and chemical reactions, the concentration of nitrobenzene in the water could be reduced. Millions are now without water. On November 13, an explosion took place at the Jilin Petroleum Benzene Production Plant, causing the Songhua...

Panic was today spreading in Harbin, with officials preparing to cut off water supplies as heavily polluted river water flowed towards the Chinese city. Stockpiling began afresh at midnight when the local government switched taps on again for 12 hours after having cut off supplies to almost four million people yesterday. The temporary switch-on came after revised calculations showed the pollution would not reach Harbin until early tomorrow morning.

3 employees of Creekstone Farms in Arkansas City were airlifted to a Wichita hospital Sunday afternoon after an elevator accident. Arkansas City Fire officials say the 2 men and 1 woman were seriously hurt when a freight elevator suddenly fell about 30 feet. They say Creekstone officials told them the elevator was not intended for human use. Creekstone Farms is declining comment on the incident until Monday.

HOMELAND INSECURITYTexas plant guard sticks to storyMan shot near port facility says FBI doesn't believe him Posted: January 28, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com The guard shot at a chemical plant near a Texas port is sticking to his story about a Mideast gunman, but he says the FBI doesn't believe him. The shooting in Freeport at a BASF ammonia depot occurred late Friday night in a muddy lot outside the plant. Robert House was working security when he said he noticed a suspect in a white pickup truck taking pictures of the facility's lights. House says when he confronted the...