AFG
04-17-2004, 06:11 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/04/17/china.leak/index.html
BEIJING, China -- Around 150,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after a series of deadly explosions hit a chemical plant in southwest China.
The explosions at the Tianyuan Chemical Industry Plant in the city of Chongqing, has killed at least nine people and injured hundreds more.
At least seven containers of liquefied chlorine were leaking fumes, which could be smelled as far away as 300 meters (1,000 feet), the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the explosions at the plant in Chonqging, a city of 12 million people.
Firefighters were spraying a mixture of water and lye into the air in hopes of clearing away some of the toxic chlorine gas from the air, Xinhua said.
The leaks were first detected late Thursday, Xinhua said, citing Vice Mayor Zhou Mubing. Minor explosions were heard later that night, but the report didn't mention injuries at that time.
Residents were evacuated from areas within three kilometers (two miles) of the plant, Xinhua said.
In December, a gas well leak near Chongqing sent a toxic cloud spreading across villages, killing 243 people in one of China's deadliest reported industrial disasters.
China's cabinet on Wednesday accepted the resignation of the chairman of the country's biggest oil producer, which owned the well.
More than 9,000 people were treated for injuries after the disaster and about 60,000 were forced to evacuate.
edit changed the title since it didnt seem to fit
BEIJING, China -- Around 150,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after a series of deadly explosions hit a chemical plant in southwest China.
The explosions at the Tianyuan Chemical Industry Plant in the city of Chongqing, has killed at least nine people and injured hundreds more.
At least seven containers of liquefied chlorine were leaking fumes, which could be smelled as far away as 300 meters (1,000 feet), the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the explosions at the plant in Chonqging, a city of 12 million people.
Firefighters were spraying a mixture of water and lye into the air in hopes of clearing away some of the toxic chlorine gas from the air, Xinhua said.
The leaks were first detected late Thursday, Xinhua said, citing Vice Mayor Zhou Mubing. Minor explosions were heard later that night, but the report didn't mention injuries at that time.
Residents were evacuated from areas within three kilometers (two miles) of the plant, Xinhua said.
In December, a gas well leak near Chongqing sent a toxic cloud spreading across villages, killing 243 people in one of China's deadliest reported industrial disasters.
China's cabinet on Wednesday accepted the resignation of the chairman of the country's biggest oil producer, which owned the well.
More than 9,000 people were treated for injuries after the disaster and about 60,000 were forced to evacuate.
edit changed the title since it didnt seem to fit