Property damage and business interruption

27.8, chemical plant explosion, fatalities

China: the death toll from explosions that ripped through a chemical plant in south-west China rose to 20. The victims were employees of the plant in Yizhou city in Guangxi province. Another 60 people were injured in the blasts that continued for seven hours. The blaze started in a workshop and spread through the plant as containers with flammable chemicals including formaldehyde and acetylene caught fire. Fire spread over a nearly 108,000-square-foot area. The government evacuated 11,500 residents in case of further blasts and chemical leaks. Poisonous gases, mainly sulphurated hydrogen and carbon monoxide, were still coming from the site. According to the local authorities, the blast did not seriously pollute air or water in the area.