Sunday, September 1, 2013

Fifteen people dead - Deadly ammonia leak in Shanghai

Emergency workers in protective suits at the scene of an ammonia leak in Shanghai.

Emergency workers in protective suits at the scene of an ammonia leak in Shanghai. Photograph: AFP/Getty

A liquid ammonia leak from a refrigeration unit at a cold storage facility in Shanghai on Saturday killed 15 people and sickened 26 others, local authorities said.

The leak occurred at 10.50am local time at Shanghai Weng's Cold Storage Industrial Co, located in the Baoshan district, the Shanghai municipal government said on its official Sina Weibo account.

Six of those injured were in a critical condition, the government said.

China has a poor record on workplace safety. In June 120 people died and 77 were injured when a fire engulfed a chicken processing plant in north-eastern Jilin province.

Many of China's deadly industrial accidents happen in the huge coal mining industry, in which more than 1,300 people died last year from explosions, mine collapses and floods.

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