2015-09-16
.jpg)
A fire tears through the Bolin Technology Chemical Co. factory in Guangdong, Sept. 15, 2015.
Photo courtesy of an RFA listener
As China’s nuclear safety officials began nationwide checks of nuclear facilities across the country in the wake of massive chemical explosions in the northern city of Tianjin that left more than 160 dead, residents of Huizhou city in the southern province of Guangdong reported yet another blaze at a chemical plant near their homes.
The fire ripped through the Bolin Technology Chemical Co. paint manufacturing facility in Huizhou’s Boluo county at around 8:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, local media reported.
Several fire engines and around 60 rescue workers were called to the scene, and took around three hours to extinguish the flames, Guangzhou’s Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper reported.
The blaze pumped thick smoke into the sky, and residents some three kilometers (1.9 miles) away said the fire was clearly visible from their homes.
“There was a fire, that was pretty big and serious,” a Boluo county resident surnamed Lin said. “We have had similar accidents in this township in the past, but they have been quite small.”
“This was pretty big. I heard nobody died or was injured, but who knows,” Lin said. “We are all very worried, because this is a chemical factory.”
An official who answered the phone at the Boluo county police department rescue services team confirmed the fire services had been called to the scene.
“Rescue workers from every district in Boluo county have joined forces to carry out firefighting and rescue work,” the official said.
A Boluo county resident surnamed He said he lives across the river from the factory.
“I would only be worried if this had actually happened right next door to me,” He said. “If it’s further away, like in Tianjin, I don’t really have any reaction to these accidents.”
“It’s just like a piece of news you watch on TV.”
Tianjin blasts
At least 160 people died on Aug. 12 when the explosions ripped through a hazardous chemicals warehouse in the port area of Tianjin, destroying residential buildings near the epicenter and shattering glass up to five kilometers (three miles) away, according to official media reports.
