Nine injured in Chinese chemical plant explosion

“One person has been killed and nine injured after an explosion at a chemical plant in China’s eastern Shandong province, state media report”.

It said that the plant produces chemicals such as adiponitrile, a colorless liquid that gives off toxic fumes after decomposing on heating or burning.

Meanwhile, almost 4,500 soldiers and police officers were working to remove unsafe chemicals from in and around the blast site in Tianjin, officials said.

The explosion occurred just before 9 p.m. Saturday in Zibo, a city southeast of Beijing in Shandong province, the Xinhua News Agency said. The explosion destroyed a factory belonging to Runxing Chemical, a subsidiary of the Runxing Group with 200m yuan ($31 million) in registered capital, Xinhua reported.

Windows shattered in the village where the blast occurred, state media said, and tremors could be felt 2 kilometers (1 mile) away. The plant produced a chemical called adiponitrile, which is used for making nylon and other various products. The blast followed a major explosion in which at least 121 people died in Tianjin earlier in August.

Yesterday, the Tianjin city government announced on its microblog account that the death toll in that disaster had been raised to 123. Fifty people are missing.

Several new fires have erupted within the Tianjin evacuation zone in recent days, and concerns about contamination in the area have forced thousands to leave their homes. The resulting explosions killed dozens of firefighters.