[CHINA Daily]Chemical plant blast kills 16 in Anhui
<span style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chemical plant blast kills 16 in Anhui</span><br/><span style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Guo Nei (China Daily)<br/>Updated: 2006-06-19 05:24</span><p></p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><!--Element not supported - Type: 8 Name: #comment--><p></p><p>A total of 16 people were killed in a chemical plant blast in East China's Anhui Province on Friday. </p><p><table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0" align="center" border="0" style="WIDTH: 286px; HEIGHT: 249px;"><tbody><tr><td valign="middle" align="left"><img alt="" hspace="0" src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-06/19/xin_19060317151671887394.jpg" align="baseline" border="1"/><br/><font face="@Arial Unicode MS" size="2">Local firefighters clear the site on June 17, 2006, after a Friday blast occured in the chemical plant in east China's Anhui Province. The two-story workshop complex has been razed to the ground. [sina]</font></td></tr></tbody></table><br/>Ten bodies were identified as workers, but the other six were burnt beyond recognition. </p><p>The explosion at the Dun'an chemical plant in Dangtu County also injured 24 workers, who are now receiving treatment in local hospitals. </p><p>Three of the injured workers are still in critical condition, the Anhui Daily reported. </p><p>According to an initial investigation, the blast occurred on Friday afternoon at a workshop during powder mixing. The plant produces explosives for mining. </p><p>The Dun'an chemical plant, owned by a corporation from East China's Zhejiang Province, has a production capacity of over 20,000 tons of explosives each year. </p><p>It is thought that there were at least 4 tons of explosives in the workshop when the explosion happened. </p><p>Clean-up work at the site has been completed, but the workshop was razed to the ground. </p><p>Rescuers said that their work was difficult because there were combustible materials in the plant that might have caused further blasts. </p><p>Vice-governor of Anhui Province Huang Haisong headed a team to supervise rescue work at the scene. </p><p>Officials with the State Administration of Work Safety and the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence also rushed to the site for investigation. </p><p>Local governments are now dealing with compensating the injured and family members of the dead. </p><p>Experts with the Anhui Provincial Public Security Department said they were working to identify the remaining dead. </p><p>The Anhui provincial government convened an urgent telephone conference Friday evening, urging local companies to conduct a work safety check immediately. </p><p>Since the beginning of May, a series of safety accidents have killed 37 people in the province, including the 16 on Friday. </p><p>The first accident occurred on May 13 in Anqing, when three miners were killed in an accident in an unlicensed coal mine. </p><p>Embarrassingly, May 13 is designated as "Safe Production Day" in the province, following a coal mine explosion in 2003 that killed 86 people. </p><p>Five days later, three workers were killed at a stone workshop in Huainan following a blast. </p><p>On May 27, a landslide at a quarry in Wuwei County killed six. </p><p></p><p align="right">(China Daily 06/19/2006 page2)</p></span>
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