A chemical leak on Wednesday night at a chemical plant in a
village in Wenjiang District?of Chengdu, capital?of
southwestern Sichuan
Province, sent 38 people to hospital.
All the victims are out of danger and in stable conditions, said
sources from the Wenjiang District People's Hospital.
The accident happened in Qingyou Village in Wenjiang District
where Chengdu Taixiao Chemical Co. Ltd. produces an animal
medicine.
As part of the manufacturing process, the catalytic agent
hemiacetal is used. A technician in the company found that both the
temperature and pressure in a reactor were unusually high. The
pressure needed to be reduced but when he did this, toxic gas
leaked from the reactor for at least five minutes, creating a
20-meter-high mushroom cloud, said Ma Xiaochun, chief of the
company's general office.
Ma added that the company has suspended operations and is taking
full responsibility for the accident.
The toxic cloud engulfed all of Qingyou Village and its 60 or so
households. The pungent smell drove the villagers out of their
homes. "Most of them vomited and felt dizzy," Hu Jian, a
25-year-old local, said.
Firefighters rushed to the scene, using water cannons to dilute
the gas.
Firefighters also conducted a door-to-door evacuation of the
village.
It was not until yesterday morning that villagers were able to
return home.
(China Daily June 17, 2005)