Constant Warning | Recent Several Dangerous Incidents

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At 10:24 on June 15, a fire broke out at one of the facilities at the Shijiazhuang Refining and Chemical Company, Sinopec, during maintenance work, resulting in 4 deaths. After the accident, the Shijiazhuang Refining and Chemicals Branch promptly activated its emergency plan and began immediate rescue and response efforts, managing to extinguish the fire at 11:15. On-site tests showed that the air and water were not polluted. Preliminary investigations indicate that the tower was constructed by a third-party contractor; four workers were welding inside the tower when a fire broke out there, and they died as they were unable to escape. The specific cause of the accident is under further investigation. Zhang Wenfei, head of public relations at Sinopec Shijiazhuang Refining and Chemical Co., said that the absorption tower involved in the accident was made of metal and stood 80 meters tall; at the time of the accident, four people were working at a height of 75 meters inside the tower. At 10:24, an alarm sounded inside the tower, and the plant’s staff called the police; about an hour later, the fire was extinguished. “It is preliminarily assumed that sparks generated during the workers’ construction work ignited the plastic, releasing irritating gases that caused 4 people to suffocate and later die from burns. ”Zhang Wenfei said that the specific reasons still need to be investigated. According to Zhang Wenfei, the four people who died in the fire were all men; three of them were employees of Sinopec’s Tenth Construction Company, while the other was a contractor hired by that company. None of them were employees of Shijiazhuang Refining and Chemical Company. Currently, the company is assisting third-party companies with the follow-up arrangements. The Shijiazhuang Refining and Chemical Branch of Sinopec was originally the Shijiazhuang Oil Refinery, established in 1978. In 1997, it underwent a partial restructuring process, and Shijiazhuang Oil Refining and Chemical Co., Ltd. was founded through public offerings. The funds raised from these offerings were all invested in the 50,000-ton per year caprolactam production project of Shijiazhuang Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd., which was established in the same year. On November 24, 2015, the company experienced a work safety accident involving the explosion of a storage tank. (China News Service) A liquefied gas explosion occurred in Tonghai, Yunnan; 3 people were injured and 373 people were evacuated. Around 9 p.m. on June 15, sudden heavy rainfall at a single location caused the wall of the Sinopec Southwest Petroleum Tonghai Storage Station located in the hardware industry park of Tonghai County, Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, to collapse. This collapse impacted the liquefied gas storage tanks, leading to a leak and an explosion. To date, the accident has not resulted in any deaths. The accident injured 3 people, namely: Li Jialong, male, 54 years old, from Nanzhuang Town, Jianshui; Xiao Yan, female, 49 years old, from Nanzhuang Town, Jianshui; Li Meng, male, 4.5 years old, from Nanzhuang Town, Jianshui. After the accident, the 3 injured were promptly taken to a hospital affiliated with the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University for treatment, and their vital signs are stable. As of 5:00 on June 16, all 303 villagers from 76 households and 373 people from 33 enterprises (including 2 construction sites) within a 1-kilometer radius of the explosion area had been evacuated to safe zones. Experts from the Fire Brigade headquarters and those from Sinopec Yunnan Company arrived at the site of the explosion around 6 a.m. on June 16 to begin their work. All ignition sources resulting from the deflagration of liquefied gas at the storage station have been extinguished. (China Radio Network) An explosion occurred at Zhejiang Lan Tian Environmental Protection Fluorine Materials Co., Ltd., resulting in 2 deaths. At around 3:50 p.m. on June 14, an explosion took place in the PVDF production workshop of this company, located in the Shangyu Economic Development Zone of Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, causing 2 deaths. At around 17:00 on that day, the open flame was extinguished, with an area affected by the fire amounting to 100 square meters. At present, the specific cause of the accident is under further investigation. (Shaoxing City, Shangyu District ** Network) An explosion occurred at a gas filling station in Qi County, Shanxi, resulting in 3 deaths. At around 5:40 p.m. on June 13, an Optima van with the license plate Jin J72907 exploded at Station No. 2 of Jieyuan Natural Gas Company in Qi County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province. One employee from the gas station, as well as the driver of the vehicle and a passenger, were injured and taken to the hospital; they died despite efforts to save them. After the accident, the county fire brigade, which was conducting drills in the vicinity, along with its ambulances, arrived at the scene at 5:44 and immediately began carrying out rescue operations. Local city and county leaders as well as relevant departments rushed to the scene immediately to direct the response efforts. Relevant follow-up actions and investigations into the cause of the accident are underway. (Legal Evening News) Poisoning incident at Lixin Petrochemical Co., Ltd. in Tianshui, Gansu Province: 3 deaths and 1 injury. On the morning of June 12, a poisoning incident involving 4 people occurred at Lixin Petrochemical Co., Ltd. in Maiji District, Tianshui City, Gansu Province. After the incident, the local fire department rushed to provide assistance, but unfortunately, the accident resulted in 3 deaths and 1 injury. It is understood that at around 9:30 on June 12, Li Yahuai, an employee of Tianli Shuxin Petrochemical Co., Ltd., went into an empty asphalt tank to retrieve his work tools. Another employee, Zhang Zhiqiang, seeing that Li Yahuai did not come out after a long time, immediately went into the tank to look for him. A third employee, Zhang Xisheng, seeing that the two had not emerged from the tank, also entered it to search. At around 9:50 that day, Jia Jilin, the person in charge of the company, seeing that the three individuals had not returned after a long time, sent people to look for them. After discovering 3 people inside the tank, Jia Jilin immediately sent employee Li Weikang to rescue them, wearing a gas mask. After Li Weikang went down into the tank, he tied Zhang Xisheng with a rope and pulled him out. Jia Jilin noticed that Li Weikang was unsteady on his feet, so he immediately ordered people to pull Li Weikang and Zhang Xisheng out, then called 119 for help. Upon arriving at the scene, the firefighters immediately began rescue efforts. With the help of firefighters, Li Yahuai and Zhang Zhiqiang, who were inside the tank, were rescued, but it was confirmed that they had died. Zhang Xisheng died despite efforts to save him, while Li Weikang is still under treatment. Currently, investigations into the cause of the accident and follow-up actions are underway.