Nine dead in China plant blast

Nine workers have been killed in an explosion at a chemical plant operated by Shandong Tianbao Chemical Industry in Linyi, eastern China.

The company is registered to manufacture explosives for civil use, according to China’s state news agency, Xinhua. As well as the eight men and one woman working in the workshop where the explosion happened, two other workers in an adjacent workshop were injured.

The blast is the latest of several serious incidents across China’s chemical industry. Since the massive explosion of a warehouse at Tianjin port in August, there have been several smaller incidents. These include an explosion at a plant owned by Zhejiang Hongxiang Chemical in Shangyu City, in which seven workers were injured, and a 300kg ammonia leak from a plant operated by Henan Zhonghong Coal Chemical Company, which required 154 local residents to attend hospital, of whom 41 required further treatment.