Most of the 108 victims of Monday's chemical explosion in
Shanghai's Huinan Town, Nanhui District, have been discharged from
hospital.
The remaining six who suffered burns to their eyes and
respiratory tract are now out of danger, a spokeswoman for Nanhui
District government said.
An 11-year-old girl, the most seriously hurt in the accident,
was transferred to Shanghai Children's Medical Center yesterday
morning.
The girl, Yu Kaili, is in a stable condition. She was reported
to be suffering a high fever and a hurt throat, said a doctor from
the hospital.
A canister of liquid ammonia on a lorry that was parked outside
a restaurant on Huidong Road exploded at about lunchtime. It
exploded reportedly because it had been exposed to the searing heat
for an extended period of time.
A glass window of the restaurant facing the street had a hole 30
centimeters in diameter blown into it and all the lobsters and fish
in a tank nearby were killed.
Many plants along neighboring streets reportedly wilted as a
result of the explosion, the Youth Daily reported.
All residents in the vicinity were evacuated. More than 100
people, including an 81-year-old woman and a 4-month-old baby
suffered from inhalation, and there were complaints of headaches,
nausea and eye and throat pain.
They were treated at Nanhui District Central Hospital, the
Health Service Center in Xinchang Community, Renji Hospital and
Shanghai Children's Medical Center.
Most of them, including the old lady and the baby, left hospital
yesterday morning.
The Nanhui District government spokeswoman said the lorry
belonged to the Transportation Administration Station of Fengxian
District. An inquiry is currently under way into the incident.
An official from the Shanghai Municipal Safe Production
Supervision Administration said that it is illegal for lorries
carrying harmful or dangerous items to be left unattended.
Tests by the Shanghai Environment Bureau an hour after the blast
found no residue of the toxic gas.
(China Daily July 6, 2005)