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Zhang Tong

Eight people have been confirmed dead in a blast at a biotechnology factory in central China early on Saturday.
The explosion ripped through a workshop in Shanyin county, Shanxi province, operated by Jiapeng Biotechnology, a company involved in bio-feed, coal and related products, building materials, and paint manufacturing.
The county government said the rescue operation had concluded and the company’s legal representative had been taken into police custody.
Officials from Shuozhou, the city overseeing the county, were investigating the cause of the incident, municipal authorities said.

Emergency crews were still at the site on Sunday, where dark yellow smoke continued to rise from the wreckage, state news agency Xinhua reported.
A resident living about 4km (2.5 miles) from the site told the Beijing News that he initially thought the explosion was an earthquake.
He felt a tremor, the windows rattled, and he heard a loud “boom”. Then he went outside and saw towering flames and white smoke in the distance. He started walking along a path towards the fire but soon saw fire trucks racing to the scene, the report said.

The workshop was located in a mountainous area over 40km from the Shanyin town centre.
According to public records, Jiapeng Biotechnology was established on June 26 and its registered address is near a village in an area that was originally a mining site.
It was not licensed to handle dangerous chemicals.
The company leased the site and converted it into workshops in an 8.5 million yuan (US$1.2 million) plan to produce 15,000 tonnes of bio-feed raw materials a year.
The plans included a 1,000 square metre (10,760 sq ft) workshop, a 500 square metre warehouse, 200 square metres of office and living facilities, and the purchase of two bio-feed raw material production lines and related equipment.
Based on the company’s floor plan, the production workshop is centrally located within the plant, with an office building, warehouse, sewage treatment station and temporary hazardous waste storage situated at the four corners.
Online commentators noted that producing feed additives was not a “low-risk” operation, with dust explosions posing the main hazard.
Organic dust from materials such as grain and protein powder could build up in enclosed spaces, where any open flame or electrostatic spark could easily trigger a chain-reaction explosion, the comments said.
The company commissioned Shanxi Fangzheng Engineering Design to conduct an environmental impact assessment in November, public documents said.
According to the Shuozhou Emergency Management Bureau, the city carried out a “hazardous chemicals special campaign” last year.


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Accidents, extreme weather and disasters in China

A blast at a factory in Shanxi province killed eight people on the weekend. Photo: CCTV

The blast took place in a mountainous site in a former mining area. Photo: Weibo

Investigators are looking into the cause of the explosion. Photo: Handout

News

China

Emergency crews remain at the site in Shanxi province as smoke continues to billow from the wreckage


Emergency crews remain at the site in Shanxi province as smoke continues to billow from the wreckage.


8 dead in biotech workshop blast in central China

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Emergency crews remain at the site in Shanxi province as smoke continues to billow from the wreckage

Emergency crews remain at the site in Shanxi province as smoke continues to billow from the wreckage