One person was killed and three others injured in a chemical
plant blast in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Thursday
morning, Xinhua News Agency quoted a local government official
today, and a resulting benzene leak has hospitalized a further
seven.
The blast took place in Dianjiang County at around 11:00 AM at
the No.1 workshop of Yingte Chemical Company, which mainly produces
intermediate medical products, said Gao Yonglu, head of the county
Administration for Workplace Safety Supervision.
Initial analysis found that excess hydrogen peroxide may have
led to the blast.
The three injured by the explosion have been hospitalized.
Since then, another seven people, including six students, have
been poisoned by benzene and are receiving medical care in the
local hospital. A doctor from the hospital said they are not in a
critical condition.
The chemical plant is 8 kilometers from Dianjiang's county
seat.
Warnings of benzene contamination have been placed along the
banks of a local river, and people have been forbidden from taking
water from a 20-kilometer stretch of it.
Two nearby schools have suspended classes and some 5,400
students have been evacuated along with thousands of villagers
nearby.
The local environmental department is monitoring the quality of
the environment.
(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2005)