A total of 16 people were killed in a chemical plant blast in east China's Anhui Province on Friday. Ten bodies have been identified and the remaining six were burnt beyond recognition.

 

The explosion at the Dun'an Chemical Plant in Dangtu County also injured 24 workers who are receiving treatment in local hospitals. Three of the injured workers remain in critical condition, the Anhui Daily reported.

 

According to an initial investigation, the blast occurred on Friday afternoon at a workshop where powder was being mixed. The plant produces explosives used in mining operations.  

 

The plant, owned by a corporation from southeast China's Zhejiang Province, has a production capacity of over 20,000 tons of explosives per year.

 

It's thought there were at least four tons of explosives in the workshop when the incident occurred. Cleanup work at the site has been completed and the workshop was razed to the ground.

 

Rescuers said the work was difficult because there were combustible materials in the plant, which might have led to further blasts.

 

Vice Governor of Anhui Province Huang Haisong led the team involved in rescue work at the scene.

 

Officials with the State Administration of Work Safety and the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense are investigating the incident.  

 

Local governments are now dealing with compensation for the injured and the families of those who lost their lives.  

 

Experts with the Anhui Provincial Department of Public Security said they were continuing to work to identify the remaining dead.

 

The Anhui provincial government convened an urgent telephone conference Friday evening and urged local companies to conduct work safety checks immediately.  

 

Since the beginning of May several safety-related accidents have killed 37 people in the province. This figure includes the 16 on Friday.

 

The first accident occurred on May 13 in Anqing when three miners were killed in an accident in an unlicensed coal mine.

 

Embarrassingly, May 13 is designated as "Safe Production Day" in the province following a coal mine explosion in 2003 that killed 86 people.

 

Five days later three workers were killed at a stone workshop in Huainan after an explosion.  

 

On May 27 a landslide at a quarry in Wuwei County killed six workmen.  

 

(China Daily June 19, 2006)