Second Explosion At Chinese Chemical Plant In Shandong Province, China

Initial report suggests that at least nine people were injured in the explosion in the Shandong province city of Zibo, So far no news of any death has been reported from the site, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Saturday’s blast took place near the city of Zibo, the South China Morning Post reported, quoting a villager who said that he saw a huge fireball and then heard two explosions.

The blast heightened concerns about China’s growing chemical industry and what many say are lax regulations that can endanger residents.

Thousands of tonnes of hazardous chemicals were stored at the site, officials have said, including about 700 tonnes of highly poisonous sodium cyanide, a white powder or crystal which can give off lethal hydrogen cyanide gas.

The explosion occurred at a factory of Shandong’s Runxing Chemical company which is a subsidiary of Runxing Group and has 200 million yuan ($31 million) in registered capital, Xinhua reported.

Fire engines were working to put out the flames, local media said.

The blast follows the August 12 chemical warehouse explosion in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin.

It is not known if homes were evacuated, the BBC reports. Another villager said the chemical plant had just gone into production and was still hiring workers.

Officially the minimum distance between businesses with risky chemicals and public buildings and transport networks is meant to be 1km.