Explosion at Putian Chemical Plant

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On the afternoon of November 26, an explosion occurred at a factory in Xiuyu District, Putian, Fujian, with black smoke billowing into the sky at the scene. The explosion caused a fire, resulting in 4 people being burned, 3 of whom are in critical condition. The open flame has been extinguished, and the cause of the explosion has been preliminarily identified. It is understood that the explosion occurred at a chemical plant named Fujian Zhongjin New Materials Co., Ltd., located in the Shimen’ao Industrial Park in Xiuyu District. The factory mainly produces polyamide 6 (PA6) chips, and the fire broke out in the factory’s boiler room. It was confirmed that at 16:17 that afternoon, a fire broke out in the heat transfer oil pump located in the boiler room of Zhongjin New Materials Co., Ltd., which led to an explosion. There was a loud noise at the scene, followed by flames and thick black smoke; the height of that smoke reached nearly 100 meters. The air was filled with the smell of plastic burning. Villagers in the vicinity said that the shaking was intense at the time of the incident, the sound was louder than thunder, and the entire ground shook. Shortly after the incident, several fire trucks and ambulances arrived at the scene one after another. At around 7 p.m. that day, all open flames were extinguished. The accident resulted in no deaths, but four people were injured by burns and are being treated in the Burns and Plastic Surgery Department of Putian 95 Hospital. The reporter learned that among the 4 injured, 3 are in critical condition with burn areas covering 60-70% of their bodies; one victim suffered inhalation injuries. All four are currently in the ICU. On November 25th, the Fujian Provincial Environmental Protection Department issued a provincial-wide notice regarding the fourth batch of environmental safety hazards identified in 2015; Fujian Zhongjin New Materials Co., Ltd. was named among those companies that failed to install denitrification facilities, and was ordered to make immediate corrections.