The death toll has climbed to 14 after Sunday's deadly molten
aluminium burst in the eastern Shandong Province as five more
injured workers died at hospital Monday morning, the local
government said.
Another 59 people remain hospitalized, said Pan Yulan, deputy
head of Zouping County where the tragedy occurred at around 8:10 PM
on Sunday.
Molten aluminium about 900 degrees Celsius spilt from its
container at a plant affiliated to the Weiqiao Pioneering Group
Co., Ltd. in Zouping. The spill, when encountering the cooling
water in the workshop, produced a strong airflow that threatened
around 82 people in at least two adjacent workshops.
By 6:30 AM Monday, the death toll stood at nine and 64 people
were being treated at three hospitals in Zouping and the provincial
capital Jinan.
Xinhua reporters visited the two local hospitals, the Zouping
People's Hospital and the Zouping County Hospital of Traditional
Chinese Medicine, but were banned from entering the emergency
wards.
The roof of the ill-fated workshop had been blown off in the
accident, its window panes smashed and walls cracked. The
eight-meter-tall, single-story workshop was 45 meters long and 27
meters wide.
Local authorities have launched an investigation into the
accident.
(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2007)
