Search continues at site of deadly chemical plant blast in China

The blast rattled a chemical plant in Gaomi (Xinhua via AP)

Six people are still missing after an explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China that killed at least five and injured 19 others.

The blast took place on Tuesday in an industrial park in the city of Weifang, in Shandong province, shattering windows at nearby buildings and spewing a thick plume of white smoke, according to videos shared on social media.

It is not clear what caused the explosion at a plant owned by Gaomi Youdao Chemical Co, a producer of pesticides and chemicals for medical use. Records show the factory has more than 500 employees.

Local fire officials sent more than 230 personnel to the scene, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

A pupil at a school just under a mile away from the plant told state-run news site The Paper that he heard an explosion and saw dirt-yellow smoke, tainted with redness, rising from the plant.

He said there was an unusual smell, and all students were given masks and told not to remove them.

A worker at the local environment bureau told The Paper that a team was dispatched to the scene to monitor potential pollution, but had yet to report back.

The blast came less than two weeks after the National Ministry of Emergency Management held a workshop on preventing and controlling risks in the chemical industry, as Beijing urged officials at chemical industrial parks to boost their capabilities in “managing hazardous chemicals”.

Last year, the chemical plant was cited over safety risks at least twice, but in September it was praised by the Weifang Emergency Management Bureau for relying on party members to effectively manage workplace risks.

Specifically, party members at Gaomi Youdao identified more than 800 safety hazards in the first eight months of 2024 and rectified all of them, the bureau said.

Workplace safety has improved over the years in China but remains a stubborn problem. The National Ministry of Emergency Management recorded 21,800 incidents and 19,600 deaths in 2024.

A warehouse complex storing large amounts of hazardous chemicals caught fire and exploded in Tianjin in 2015, leaving 173 dead or missing.

In 2019, 78 people were killed in a blast at a chemical plant in Yancheng in China’s eastern coastal province of Jiangsu.