An explosion at a steel mill in northeast China has resulted in the death of four people and left five others hospitalized with injuries. The incident occurred on Thursday morning at the Yingkou Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. in Yingkou, which is located in the Liaoning province.
The cause of the explosion is currently under investigation, but experts believe that an equipment malfunction may have been responsible. This tragedy comes less than 12 hours after another explosion in a barbecue restaurant in Yinchuan, a city in northwest China, killed 31 people.
According to a statement released by the city’s Emergency Management Bureau, a blast furnace exploded at the Yingkou Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. on Thursday morning. The steel mill is located in Yingkou, which is east of Beijing in the Liaoning province. The explosion resulted in the death of four people and left five others hospitalized with injuries. The cause of the explosion is currently under investigation, but experts believe that an equipment malfunction may have been responsible.
The city government has not yet released any further information regarding the incident. Phone calls made to the Yingkou government on Friday were not answered. This tragedy comes less than 12 hours after another explosion in a barbecue restaurant in Yinchuan, a city in northwest China, killed 31 people. The cause of the restaurant explosion was attributed to a gas leak.
The Yingkou Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. is one of China’s largest steel producers, with an annual production capacity of 10 million tons. The company is a subsidiary of Ansteel Group, which is one of China’s largest state-owned steel producers. The explosion is a reminder of the dangers that workers face in China’s industrial sector, which has been plagued by safety issues in recent years.
In 2015, a series of explosions at a chemical warehouse in Tianjin, a port city in northern China, killed 173 people and injured hundreds more. The incident was one of the deadliest industrial accidents in China’s history. The government subsequently launched a nationwide safety campaign to improve workplace safety standards and prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
The latest explosion at the Yingkou Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. highlights the need for continued efforts to improve workplace safety in China.