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Fire at Amur complex
A fire broke out on Tuesday at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex in Russia’s far eastern Amur region, killing seven people and leaving nine Chinese workers missing, the plant said on Wednesday.
“Six Chinese nationals were killed and nine more are missing”
Reuters reported that six Chinese nationals were among the seven killed and that nine more were missing, while 152 people were treated for injuries including 36 who were rushed to hospitals.
The plant said the blaze was extinguished, and an emergency services plane arrived to transport injured people to other hospitals in Russia.
The complex is a joint project of Russian company Sibur and Chinese oil and gas company Sinopec, and it had not yet begun operations while preparing for production start.
Investigations and missing workers
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it was investigating the incident as a potential breach of industrial safety regulations and was working to establish the cause of the fire.
The plant said the fire occurred at the construction site and was extinguished, while residual process gases were burned off under supervision of specialists, according to Anadolu Ajansı.
Anadolu Ajansı also reported that the bodies of four Chinese workers were found during search and rescue operations and that the fate of nine more Chinese citizens remained unknown.
The Kyiv Post said the complex is still under construction and preparing to begin production, and it reported that 152 people sought medical treatment with 36 taken to hospital.
Scale of production at risk
The Amur Gas Chemical Complex bills itself as one of the world’s largest producers of polyethylene and polypropylene, and Reuters said it is expected to produce 2.3 million metric tons of polyethylene and 400,000 tons of polypropylene per year once operational.
“expected to produce 2.3 million metric tons of polyethylene and 400,000 tons of polypropylene per year”
Anadolu Ajansı similarly described the complex as a joint project of SIBUR and Sinopec that has yet to begin production, with the construction-site fire now under investigation.
The plant said the fire was extinguished and that specialists were completing the controlled burning of residual industrial gases, while search and rescue operations continued for the missing workers.
With the facility still preparing to start production, the sources frame the incident as an industrial safety matter under investigation by Russia’s Investigative Committee, which has not yet established the cause.