At least 22 people were killed and 22 injured, on Wednesday, November 28, in an explosion followed by a fire near a chemical plant in the north of China, announced the local authorities.
The explosion involved a fifty heavy-weight, destroyed by fire near the plant of the group, Hebei Shenghua Chemical in the town of Zhangjiakou, about 200 km north-west of Beijing, have clarified the communication services of the city on the social network Weibo.
The injured were taken to hospital after the blast which occurred at 0 h 41 local time, according to the press release, which did not specify the causes of the explosion.
photos aired by the public television CGTN on his Twitter account show the carcasses of heavy-charred and firefighters in action along the road. “The work of search and rescue and an investigation into the causes of the accident are ongoing,” according to the authorities.
#UPDATE A total of 50 cars involved in the accident; the fire has been contained, search operation underway, agreement… https://t.co/ZO5PVVq8HN
— CGTNOfficial (@CGTN)
Incidents to repetition
The great city of Zhangjiakou, very wide, is one of the main sites selected for the trials of the winter olympic Games scheduled in Beijing in 2022.
China has been the scene of several industrial accidents in recent years. In July, an explosion at a chemical factory had 19 killed and 12 injured in the Sichuan province (south-west).
In 2015, a huge explosion in a warehouse of chemicals had been 165 deaths in the port city of Tianjin (north), generating a controversy around the causes of the disaster and its environmental impact.
The former mayor of the city, which had led the committee in charge to manage the disaster, was sentenced in 2017 to twelve years in prison for corruption.
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