Eight people were killed and nine others injured today in an explosion at a petrochemical plant in China's eastern Shandong province.

Rescuers have so far retrieved seven bodies, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The explosion set ablaze several fuel storage tanks at the site in the Lingang Economic Zone in the Linyi city. The fire had been put out with secondary disasters unlikely.

Nine people were injured after a liquefied gas tanker exploded in the early hours causing the fire in the loading area of Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Company.

The injured were not in critical condition, according to the rescuers.

Police have detained the owner of the company.

More than 900 firefighters and over 170 fire engines were mobilised to extinguish the flames. People in nearby villages and plants were evacuated. </s> SHANGHAI (Reuters) - An explosion rocked a petrochemical plant in China’s eastern province of Shandong on Monday, killing eight people and injuring nine, state media and local government officials said.

Deadly accidents are common at industrial plants in China, where anger is growing over lax standards after three decades of rapid economic growth marred by incidents ranging from mining disasters to factory fires.

Monday’s blast took place about an hour after midnight, triggering fires at the loading area of Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co. Ltd. in the Linyi Lingang economic development zone, the state news agency, Xinhua, said.

The toll rose to eight, as authorities confirmed the deaths of seven people who had been reported missing, in addition to one death reported earlier, the local government said on its microblog.

Nine people were injured and the fires have been put out, the government said.

The “responsible person” at the company that runs the plant has been detained, Xinhua added, without giving details.

In 2015, huge chemical explosions in the port city of Tianjin killed more than 170 people, prompting a vow by President Xi Jinping that the authorities would learn the lessons paid for in blood. </s> Eight people were killed and nine injured in an explosion and fire Monday at a chemical plant in eastern China's Shandong province, local authorities and media reports said. The accident was triggered by an explosion of a liquefied gas tanker in a loading area at the Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co.

Start the conversation, or Read more at NewsOK.com. </s> Eight people have been killed and five injured in an explosion and fire at a chemical plant in eastern China's Shandong province. The official Xinhua News Agency said the accident was triggered by an explosion of a liquefied gas tanker in a loading area at the Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co.

Start the conversation, or Read more at NewsOK.com. </s> BEIJING — Eight people were killed and nine injured in an explosion and fire Monday at a chemical plant in eastern China’s Shandong province, authorities and media reports said.

The accident was triggered by an explosion of a liquefied gas tanker in a loading area at the Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co. plant about 1 a.m., the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The plant’s owner was detained by police, and the injured were transported to a hospital.

Among the worst accidents was a 2015 explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin that killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers. </s> Beijing: Eight people have been killed and five injured in an explosion and fire at a chemical plant in eastern China's Shandong province.

Xinhua News Agency said the accident was triggered by an explosion of a liquefied gas tanker in a loading area at the Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co plant at about 1 am on Monday.

The blast set ablaze several fuel storage tanks at the site in the Lingang Economic Zone in the city of Linyi. Nearby areas were evacuated.

The plant's owner was later detained by police and the injured were taken to a local hospital.

The Lingang Economic Zone said in a statement posted to the internet that the fire was extinguished by Monday afternoon after more than 900 firefighters responded. </s> An explosion at a chemical plant in China has killed 19 people and injured 12, officials say.

It's not yet clear what caused the blast on Thursday night at an industrial park in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern province Sichuan, authorities in Jiang'an county said.

The blast is the latest deadly industrial incident in China, which is the largest producer of chemicals.

State news agency Xinhua says the injured are in a stable condition and an investigation into the blast at Yibin Hengda Technology is underway.

The company did not immediately answer telephone calls from Reuters to seek information.

Photographs on Chinese social media show a huge fire and plumes of smoke rising from the facility.

The fire was extinguished by 11.30pm (local time) on Thursday, the government said in a statement.

In 2015, an explosion in a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 165 people.

Last year a blast at a petrochemical plant in eastern Shandong province killed eight people and injured nine. </s> An explosion at a chemical plant in China's southwestern province of Sichuan has killed 19 people and injured 12, the local government said Friday.

It is not yet clear what caused Thursday evening's blast at Yibin Hengda Technology in an industrial park several hours from the provincial capital of Chengdu, authorities in Jiang'an county said in a short statement.

Photos on Chinese social media showed a huge fire and plumes of smoke rising from the facility.

China has kicked off measures to improve industrial safety, ramping up checks over the last year, following some high-profile incidents at coal mines and chemical plants.

In 2015, an explosion in a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 165 people. Last year, a blast at a petrochemical plant in eastern Shandong province killed eight people and injured nine. </s> SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - An explosion at a chemical plant in China has killed 19 people and injured 12, authorities said on Friday, the latest deadly industrial incident in the world’s largest producer of chemicals.

It comes amid a drive to strengthen industrial safety, with China ramping up checks over the last year, in the wake of some high-profile incidents at coal mines and chemical plants.

The cause of Thursday evening’s blast at Yibin Hengda Technology in an industrial park several hours southeast of Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, is not yet known, the local government in Jiang’an county said.

The injured are in stable condition and an investigation has begun, state news agency Xinhua said.

The company, which makes chemicals for the food and pharmaceutical industries, did not immediately answer telephone calls from Reuters to seek information.

Photographs on Chinese social media showed a huge fire and plumes of smoke rising from the facility. The fire, which broke out early on Thursday evening, was put out by 11:30 p.m., the government said in its statement.

A trio of three-storey buildings were reduced to their steel frames by the explosion, the Sichuan Daily newspaper said, citing eyewitness accounts.

Windows of nearby buildings were shattered by the explosion at the factory, which is surrounded by a sand and gravel plant, it added.

The plant has three production lines, making 300 tonnes per year (tpy) of benzoic acid, which is used in food preservatives, and 2,000 tpy of 5-nitroisophthalic acid, for medicines and dyes, the regional environmental protection bureau says.

China’s breakneck pace of economic growth during the last decade has resulted in a spate of industrial accidents.

In 2015, an explosion in a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 165 people. Last year a blast at a petrochemical plant in eastern Shandong province killed eight people and injured nine.
Eight people are killed in an explosion at a petrochemical plant in Shandong, China.