Quick Take: Sichuan Chemical Factory Explosion Kills 19, Injures 12

An explosion and subsequent fire at an industrial park in the southwestern province of Sichuan late Thursday killed 19 and injured another 12 in the latest deadly chemical industry accident in China, the world’s largest supplier of chemical products.

Local authorities did not say what triggered the explosion or identify those killed and injured at the Yibin Hengda Sci-Tech Company site in the city of Yibin, about 160 miles south of the provincial capital of Chengdu.

Pictures that circulated on Chinese social media showed massive flames and large plumes of dark smoke rising from the site. The fire, which started around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, was put out five hours later, according to a statement issued Friday by the Jiang’an county government, which administers the industrial park where the accident took place.

None of the injured are in a critical condition, according to the county statement posted on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter. The investigation into the cause of the explosion and fire is ongoing, it said.

Hengda Sci-Tech specializes in research, manufacturing, and distribution of both chemical products and chemical intermediates used in the production of other products, the company said on its website.

China has grappled for decades with industrial accidents caused by reckless manufacturers who put growth and profit ahead of workers’ safety. Matters have been made worse by lax enforcement of work safety regulations, at least until recently.

A massive explosion in a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin in August 2015 killed 165 people, mostly firefighters.

Contact reporter Li Rongde (rongdeli@caixin.com)