The authorities of the Chinese city of Yancheng in the eastern Jiangsu province have decided to close the industrial park in the wake of a deadly explosion at a local chemical plant that occurred in late March, the city administration said in a statement obtained by Sputnik.<
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th April, 2019) The authorities of the Chinese city of Yancheng in the eastern Jiangsu province have decided to close the industrial park in the wake of a deadly explosion at a local chemical plant that occurred in late March, the city administration said in a statement obtained by Sputnik.
"It is necessary to seriously study the work on the integrated administration of the chemical industrial park in Xiangshui county and of the entire chemical industry in the city, to completely close this industrial park and include the town of Zhangjiagang in a pilot project to improve the living conditions of the population called '10 cities and 100 villages,'" the statement said.
The authorities also noted the necessity to completely eliminate small chemical enterprises with a low coefficient of safety and a high level of environmental pollution.
According to the statement, it is also necessary to make this incident an example for the entire chemical industry of the city and take the necessary measures to improve the level of safety and improve the management of relevant enterprises.
A powerful blast hit the chemical plant in the city of Yancheng on March 21, with shock waves shattering doors and windows in neighboring residential buildings and leaving an enormous hole on the ground at the site of the explosion. According to the official data, 78 people were killed and 566 others injured in the incident.
This was not the first time China had suffered a severe plant explosion. In November, at least 22 people died and 22 more were injured following a blast near a chemical plant in the northern city of Zhangjiakou. In 2015, about 170 people were killed in a series of explosions at a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin.
