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injured at least 22 others. (Source: Reuters / Representational) An explosion near the chemical plant in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, in northern China, left 22 dead and 22 wounded on Wednesday. announced the local government.
A video of the explosion A scene shared by the official media showed black smoke and black flames, while photographs showed rows of burning cars and trucks lined the streets on Wednesday morning. government. The production of the neighboring Hebei Shenghua Chemical Industry Co was shut down, said a woman who had answered the factory's phone. A ChemChina spokesman, owner of Hebei Shenghua, confirmed that the blast had not occurred in Shenghua.
Official media reported that all fires at the blast site had been extinguished. Zhangjiakou, a town about 156 km northwest of Beijing, is expected to host the 2022 Winter Olympics alongside the capital.
Public anger over safety standards has increased in China after three decades of strong economic growth incidents ranging from mine disasters to factory fires
In August 2015, 165 people were killed as a result of an explosion in a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin. A government report revealed that the disaster was caused by unsafe or illegally stored hazardous materials.
China is committed to improving industry standards, but environmentalists are concerned that weaknesses in control persist, including an opaque production process for dangerous chemicals.
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