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Horrific nightmare at Kunshan factory
By Wei Tian and Cang Wei and Su Zhou (China Daily)Updated: 2014-08-04 07:45
In a Kunshan city square on Saturday night, residents light candles to remember those who died or were injured in the factory explosion that morning. Shen Peng / Xinhua
Communities, doctors rush to help as blast kills more than 70 workers, report Wei Tian and Cang Wei in Kunshan, Jiangsu, and Su Zhou in Beijing.
Chinese Valentine's Day on Saturday was a traditional day for loving couples to have happy reunions.
But for some in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, it was a day of tragic separation.
At about 7:30 am, Wen Zhao was awakened by a huge blast from a nearby factory.
Unlike many who ran for their lives, the migrant worker from Henan province rushed to the scene. That's because his 25-year-old wife, Liu Jinhua, works there.
"There were bodies lying on the ground in disorder, and the injured were struggling to stand up," Wen said with tears in his eyes, recalling the painful sight.
"There was so much dust that I couldn't recognize anyone's face. But I eventually heard a weak groan from my wife, and I pulled her out and carried her to the ambulance."
A total of 264 workers were in the wheel-polishing workshop of the auto parts plant when the explosion occurred at 7:37 am. Official figures showed that 44 died at the scene, and 27 others died on the way to hospitals. About 187 of the injured were receiving medical treatment.
The blast, which investigators said was likely an aluminum dust explosion, shattered the two-story building of Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products, a Taiwan-funded auto parts producer and sub-supplier for General Motors.
The severity of injuries inflicted by the blast stunned even some seasoned doctors.
"During my 27-year career, I have never seen a situation where every patient suffered burns to more than 80 percent of their body," said Zhang Qin, a doctor at the burn department of Shanghai's Ruijin Hospital. He was among the first experts to arrive. His team treated about 40 burn patients on Saturday morning.
Zhang said the death rate from severe blast injuries is "quite high" and that the final casualty number is likely to climb.
President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out effort to treat the injured and comfort the families of the dead. He has demanded a full investigation into the accident and harsh punishments for those responsible.
Premier Li Keqiang called for safety checks to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Families and friends quickly gathered at the hospitals that received the wounded. Many of them traveled long distances from other cities.
But their loved ones were often not easy to find. Because of the large number of casualties and frequent transfers of patients, the hospitals had few options for keeping track of them. In many cases, they quickly collected saliva samples for DNA matching and wrote down contact information for future use.
A 32-year-old man from Anhui province who gave his surname as Cheng said he had tried three hospitals but still couldn't find his wife, who had been working in the factory.
Cheng, who was also a former employee of Zhongrong, said working conditions at the factory were "the worst" in Kunshan's industrial development zone.
"In the dusty environment, the only protection workers got was a mask and gloves. The air-filtering equipment is basically useless," he said.
Workers at Zhongrong could earn 5,000 yuan ($830) per month, high pay compared with neighboring factories.
But Cheng said many of his former workmates quit within three months because they couldn't stand the dusty environment and heavy workload.
"Night shifts are very common, and overtime on weekends is routine. Workers are covered with aluminum powder. They look like terracotta warriors," Cheng said.
"We had 20 to 30 new employees joining us every day, and no one was given safety training of any sort at all."
Cheng said there was a fire several months ago at the same factory, but it didn't attract attention.
'Golden hours'
Of the 186 people injured in the blast, 137 were transferred to hospitals of nearby cities.
The local health department said all of the injured have deep burns. Most suffered burns to more than 90 percent of their bodies. Even the victims with the lightest wounds have lost 50 percent of their skin, the department said.
Many burn specialists, including some from Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, have hurried to Kunshan to help.
Xiong Meng, director of the burns and plastic surgery department of Nanjing's Zhongda Hospital, said the "golden hours" for saving the life of a severely burned patient are the first 36 to 48 hours, and specialists have been working frantically to provide treatment in time.
"After losing the protection of the skin, a person will fall into a coma because of the loss of a large amount of fluid. During the coma, which usually lasts between 36 and 48 hours, lots of blood needs to be put back into the body," Xiong said.
"The shorter the coma is, the better the patients will recover during the acute infection period and the following recovery period."
Pu Jianguo, one of the bus drivers who transported patients to a hospital at the request of the police, said he was stunned when he saw the injured.
"I realized how serious the situation was the moment I saw their wounds," Pu said. "Usually the trip to the hospital would take me more than 50 minutes, but I finished it in less than 20 on Saturday.
"They could only lie on the floor of the bus, so a 10-meter-long bus can only take about four to six people," Pu said. "The bus needed to be washed from inside out to get rid of the scorched smell before it could be used again."
Responding to the pleas for blood after the Kunshan branch of the Red Cross Society of China reported a shortage, many residents of Jiangsu province stood in queues outside blood-collection stations. The society's four stations reached their capacity by late afternoon. But more blood is needed.
According to Sun Jun, director of the provincial blood center, 100,000 milliliters of blood and 36,000 milliliters of red blood cells were transferred to Kunshan.
More than 200 people also volunteered to receive training by Kunshan's psychological counseling association. The volunteers worked with more than 100 psychiatrists to offer help to the patients' relatives who were staying at temporary shelters.
Complaints unheeded
Workers have posted comments online saying they have suffered from the effects of dust in their lungs, but after they complained, production continued as usual.
"For years we've received baskets of notices and supervisory reports from various levels, but everything remains the same. No one ever takes any action," an employee at Zhongrong, who declined to be named, told Beijing News.
Just two weeks ago, Wang Xiangming, director of the work safety administration in Jiangsu province, told the media that the number of accidents and casualties had dropped for 12 years, and the safety situation was "improving overall".
By contrast, Lu Jun, mayor of Kunshan, characterized Saturday's accident as "severe".
An initial probe indicated the explosion may have been triggered by a flame that ignited airborne dust inside the workshop. The authorities have detained two company officials.
A number of enterprises, including Foxconn Technology Group in Kunshan, have suspended work for safety checks, said Zhang Jun, director of the Kunshan Administration of Work Safety. Production will resume based on the results of the checks, China News Service reported.
Experts called for intensified measures at factories to prevent similar accidents. "Dust suspended in the air in the right concentration can cause explosions. Even a material that does not normally burn in large pieces, such as aluminum, becomes explosive in certain conditions when it's suspended in powder form," said Wu Chunping, a senior engineer at Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
"Generally speaking, for those workshops with high dust concentrations, precautionary measures are the key. Explosions will happen in a few milliseconds," Wu said. "Factories should put dust-monitoring equipment in the workplace to monitor the density."
Wu added that multiple explosions could have occurred in rapid succession because the whole workplace would have been filled with aluminum particles after the first blast, and that could have led to a series of quick blasts. Also, hot aluminum particles in the air would ignite workers' clothes, he said.
Xinhua contributed to the story.
By Wei Tian and Cang Wei and Su Zhou (China Daily)Updated: 2014-08-04 07:45
In a Kunshan city square on Saturday night, residents light candles to remember those who died or were injured in the factory explosion that morning. Shen Peng / Xinhua
Communities, doctors rush to help as blast kills more than 70 workers, report Wei Tian and Cang Wei in Kunshan, Jiangsu, and Su Zhou in Beijing.
Chinese Valentine's Day on Saturday was a traditional day for loving couples to have happy reunions.
But for some in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, it was a day of tragic separation.
At about 7:30 am, Wen Zhao was awakened by a huge blast from a nearby factory.
Unlike many who ran for their lives, the migrant worker from Henan province rushed to the scene. That's because his 25-year-old wife, Liu Jinhua, works there.
"There were bodies lying on the ground in disorder, and the injured were struggling to stand up," Wen said with tears in his eyes, recalling the painful sight.
"There was so much dust that I couldn't recognize anyone's face. But I eventually heard a weak groan from my wife, and I pulled her out and carried her to the ambulance."
A total of 264 workers were in the wheel-polishing workshop of the auto parts plant when the explosion occurred at 7:37 am. Official figures showed that 44 died at the scene, and 27 others died on the way to hospitals. About 187 of the injured were receiving medical treatment.
The blast, which investigators said was likely an aluminum dust explosion, shattered the two-story building of Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products, a Taiwan-funded auto parts producer and sub-supplier for General Motors.
The severity of injuries inflicted by the blast stunned even some seasoned doctors.
"During my 27-year career, I have never seen a situation where every patient suffered burns to more than 80 percent of their body," said Zhang Qin, a doctor at the burn department of Shanghai's Ruijin Hospital. He was among the first experts to arrive. His team treated about 40 burn patients on Saturday morning.
Zhang said the death rate from severe blast injuries is "quite high" and that the final casualty number is likely to climb.
President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out effort to treat the injured and comfort the families of the dead. He has demanded a full investigation into the accident and harsh punishments for those responsible.
Premier Li Keqiang called for safety checks to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Families and friends quickly gathered at the hospitals that received the wounded. Many of them traveled long distances from other cities.
But their loved ones were often not easy to find. Because of the large number of casualties and frequent transfers of patients, the hospitals had few options for keeping track of them. In many cases, they quickly collected saliva samples for DNA matching and wrote down contact information for future use.
A 32-year-old man from Anhui province who gave his surname as Cheng said he had tried three hospitals but still couldn't find his wife, who had been working in the factory.
Cheng, who was also a former employee of Zhongrong, said working conditions at the factory were "the worst" in Kunshan's industrial development zone.
"In the dusty environment, the only protection workers got was a mask and gloves. The air-filtering equipment is basically useless," he said.
Workers at Zhongrong could earn 5,000 yuan ($830) per month, high pay compared with neighboring factories.
But Cheng said many of his former workmates quit within three months because they couldn't stand the dusty environment and heavy workload.
"Night shifts are very common, and overtime on weekends is routine. Workers are covered with aluminum powder. They look like terracotta warriors," Cheng said.
"We had 20 to 30 new employees joining us every day, and no one was given safety training of any sort at all."
Cheng said there was a fire several months ago at the same factory, but it didn't attract attention.
'Golden hours'
Of the 186 people injured in the blast, 137 were transferred to hospitals of nearby cities.
The local health department said all of the injured have deep burns. Most suffered burns to more than 90 percent of their bodies. Even the victims with the lightest wounds have lost 50 percent of their skin, the department said.
Many burn specialists, including some from Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, have hurried to Kunshan to help.
Xiong Meng, director of the burns and plastic surgery department of Nanjing's Zhongda Hospital, said the "golden hours" for saving the life of a severely burned patient are the first 36 to 48 hours, and specialists have been working frantically to provide treatment in time.
"After losing the protection of the skin, a person will fall into a coma because of the loss of a large amount of fluid. During the coma, which usually lasts between 36 and 48 hours, lots of blood needs to be put back into the body," Xiong said.
"The shorter the coma is, the better the patients will recover during the acute infection period and the following recovery period."
Pu Jianguo, one of the bus drivers who transported patients to a hospital at the request of the police, said he was stunned when he saw the injured.
"I realized how serious the situation was the moment I saw their wounds," Pu said. "Usually the trip to the hospital would take me more than 50 minutes, but I finished it in less than 20 on Saturday.
"They could only lie on the floor of the bus, so a 10-meter-long bus can only take about four to six people," Pu said. "The bus needed to be washed from inside out to get rid of the scorched smell before it could be used again."
Responding to the pleas for blood after the Kunshan branch of the Red Cross Society of China reported a shortage, many residents of Jiangsu province stood in queues outside blood-collection stations. The society's four stations reached their capacity by late afternoon. But more blood is needed.
According to Sun Jun, director of the provincial blood center, 100,000 milliliters of blood and 36,000 milliliters of red blood cells were transferred to Kunshan.
More than 200 people also volunteered to receive training by Kunshan's psychological counseling association. The volunteers worked with more than 100 psychiatrists to offer help to the patients' relatives who were staying at temporary shelters.
Complaints unheeded
Workers have posted comments online saying they have suffered from the effects of dust in their lungs, but after they complained, production continued as usual.
"For years we've received baskets of notices and supervisory reports from various levels, but everything remains the same. No one ever takes any action," an employee at Zhongrong, who declined to be named, told Beijing News.
Just two weeks ago, Wang Xiangming, director of the work safety administration in Jiangsu province, told the media that the number of accidents and casualties had dropped for 12 years, and the safety situation was "improving overall".
By contrast, Lu Jun, mayor of Kunshan, characterized Saturday's accident as "severe".
An initial probe indicated the explosion may have been triggered by a flame that ignited airborne dust inside the workshop. The authorities have detained two company officials.
A number of enterprises, including Foxconn Technology Group in Kunshan, have suspended work for safety checks, said Zhang Jun, director of the Kunshan Administration of Work Safety. Production will resume based on the results of the checks, China News Service reported.
Experts called for intensified measures at factories to prevent similar accidents. "Dust suspended in the air in the right concentration can cause explosions. Even a material that does not normally burn in large pieces, such as aluminum, becomes explosive in certain conditions when it's suspended in powder form," said Wu Chunping, a senior engineer at Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
"Generally speaking, for those workshops with high dust concentrations, precautionary measures are the key. Explosions will happen in a few milliseconds," Wu said. "Factories should put dust-monitoring equipment in the workplace to monitor the density."
Wu added that multiple explosions could have occurred in rapid succession because the whole workplace would have been filled with aluminum particles after the first blast, and that could have led to a series of quick blasts. Also, hot aluminum particles in the air would ignite workers' clothes, he said.
Xinhua contributed to the story.
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