Fire reignites at chemical plant hit by explosion
Print Edition
A FIRE at a chemical plant that exploded a day ago in southeast China’s Fujian Province reignited last night, three hours after it was thought to have been extinguished.
The initial blast was caused by a fire at a xylene facility, an initial investigation revealed. Oil leaking from the xylene facility caught fire and led to blasts at three nearby oil storage tanks at the Tenglong Aromatic Hydrocarbon plant in Zhangzhou City.
Health authorities said that six people injured in the blast are being treated in the hospital, while another 13 people had received medical examinations as yesterday morning.
Local residents were evacuated, and 177 fire tenders and 829 firefighters battled the blaze for 21 hours before it was contained.
The blast broke windows at a gas station a kilometer away.
It was the second explosion in 20 months at the same facility, which produces paraxylene (PX), an industrial chemical used for making fiber and plastics.
Environmental protection authorities have dispatched more than 50 personnel to monitor the environment.
Waste water has been collected and no excessive pollutants have been detected in three nearby villages, local government said.
The explosion came amid reports of environmental protests in the Inner Mongolia Autnomous Region some 2,200 kilometers away, sparked by waste discharged by local chemical plants onto grazing land.
Government officials in Inner Mongolia vowed to shut down several plants after the protests.
Proposals for plants producing PX, a flammable and carcinogenic liquid used in the production of polyester films and fabrics, have sparked large protests in several Chinese cities over perceived health risks.
The Zhangzhou PX plant was originally slated to be built in the nearby coastal city of Xiamen, but was moved to its present site after thousands of people took part in a protest in 2007.
Environmental Minister Chen Jining insisted during the country’s annual parliamentary session last month that all new PX projects must undergo and pass environmental impact assessments.
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