Power plant owner questioned over blast
Print Edition
POLICE are questioning the owner of a power plant where a huge blast killed 21 people and left five injured in central China’s Hubei Province, the authorities said yesterday.
Twenty-one people, aged between 22 and 51 years old, died in the explosion at Madian Gangue Power Generation Co Ltd in Dangyang City on Monday afternoon. DNA testing will be used to identify the bodies, authorities said.
The power plant and neighboring companies have been closed and a work safety overhaul has been launched in the city.
Four of the injured were transferred to the provincial capital Wuhan by helicopter for treatment.
The blast occurred about 3:20pm when workers were testing a newly built thermo-power facility. The blast was the result of a high-pressure steam pipe bursting, preliminary investigations showed.
Ma Xuming, mayor of Yichang City, said several work groups were established to handle the rescue operation and investigation and to comfort relatives of the victims.
The State Administration of Work Safety has sent a work group to carry out its own investigation.
Du Qiuxin, a villager who lives about 1 kilometer away, said: “I rushed out to check what happened. The area was quickly sealed off and many police and firemen came.”
The plant only started operating this year and its facilities are still undergoing testing, local authorities said.
The plant was built by the Huaqiang chemical plant along with other companies, according to an employee at the Huaqiang chemical plant, who declined to be named.
The blast destroyed pipes and shattered windows and computer screens in the control room.
One of the critically injured, surnamed Liu, 32, is being treated at Dangyang People’s Hospital.
“He began the work at the power plant just a month ago. It is a huge blow to the family. His daughter is only 8 years old,” said Liu’s uncle.
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