Why did the “11·24” accident at the Fengcheng Power Plant in Jiangxi cause such heavy casualties?

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Rescue workers said that the internal structure collapsed and the workers did not have time to escape. At noon yesterday, Yang Yi, a liaison officer from the Jiangxi Blue Sky Rescue Team involved in the rescue efforts, told a reporter from The Beijing News that the team used equipment such as demolition, cutting, and hydraulic tools at the scene to clear the debris and rescue the injured. After about 13 hours, the site was cleared and the rescue operations were essentially completed. “Based on on-site assessment, the casualties were caused by the collapse of the steel framework structure inside the building; workers on the upper construction platform fell, while those working on the ground were buried. ”Regarding why this collapse resulted in so many casualties, Yang Yi told reporters that the accident affected a small area yet led to a high number of deaths and injuries, making it a special case. In the case of the cooling tower in question, a structural collapse occurred inside it, which in turn caused the entire operating platform to collapse. At that time, some workers were working on the operating platform located at a height of over 70 meters, while there were also workers on the ground below the tower. \"After the collapse, the objects fell at great speed; the workers hardly had time to react. Moreover, the working space inside the tower was limited, making it difficult for them to escape in time.\" ”**Gu Yujiong, the executive deputy director of the Thermal Power Generation Engineering Technology Research Center, said in an interview with CCTV that the construction of cooling towers is a type of civil engineering work. Because it is very tall, a platform needs to be built to climb up layer by layer. Construction is to be carried out on this platform, so people need to stand there. There are some passages underneath; if the platform above collapses, it will directly crush those passages, and there are workers beneath them. Fang Dongping, head of the Construction Management Department at the School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering at Tsinghua University, told CCTV that 70 workers being on site is a completely normal situation, and it is not the shift change that leads to an increase in casualties. The root cause of the accident was the failure of the construction equipment, which led to a series of subsequent events. What will be the focus of future investigations? Experts believe that efforts should be made at both the technical and managerial levels. Dong Ping believes that one aspect relates to technology, while the other relates to management. For example, the equipment design of the tower crane, the construction conditions, and whether there is overloading ； If tower crane operators are involved, is it related to the operator’s fatigue, mistakes in operation, and so on? Professor Lu Wengang, head of the Department of Emergency Management at Jinan University, said that the installation of the equipment structure, the quality of construction materials, the working condition of the construction workers at the time, as well as whether there is scientific management by the project owner and supervisory agencies on site, all have an impact on construction safety. Furthermore, the construction technology requirements for power plants are high, and whether the construction workers have received proper training are key aspects of the investigation. An engineer from the power industry told reporters that before the construction of power projects, organizational measures, technical measures, safety measures, as well as the construction plan must all meet **the required standards; only after being reviewed by an expert team can the work proceed. Organizational measures refer to the number of employees, the qualifications of workers, etc ； Technical measures refer to materials used, actual plans, etc ； Safety measures refer to the safety safeguards that should be adopted in project construction. “The \"three measures\" plan should be filed with the construction unit, while the supervision company should ensure that the construction unit implements it strictly in accordance with the plan. Whether it is the construction of cooling towers or scaffolding, it must be carried out in strict accordance with the detailed \"three measures\" plan. Regarding the cooling tower involved in this incident, it is possible that there were issues with the construction plan itself, or that the construction party failed to follow the plan, without the supervision party stepping in to correct this. It is necessary for the investigation team to conduct a thorough investigation to determine whether there are any issues with this program. According to official reports, the third-phase expansion project of Fengcheng Power Plant was funded and constructed by Jiangxi Ganneng Co., Ltd., with China Electric Power Engineering Consulting Group Central South Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd. acting as the general contractor. The supervision unit is Shanghai Schneider Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd. Yesterday morning, experts from the State Council’s working group went to the site to conduct investigations and collect evidence. The working group will determine the cause of the accident, as well as the number of casualties and property losses, in the coming months. Determine the nature of the accident and liability ； Propose measures for handling the accident and suggestions for dealing with those responsible for it ； Check whether the emergency measures for controlling accidents are appropriate ； Prepare an accident investigation report. According to CCTV News