Further photos of the Chinese Aluminium Dust Explosion

Hundreds of people were in the factory when an explosion occurred on August 2, leaving 75 workers dead and 186 injured.

This catastrophe has made an impact in our industry let alone the world. The initial shock has led to disbelief that so many workers could die and be injured in one single incident. It is the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog’s hope that this catastrophe will result in greater enforcement by government safety enforcement agencies in the countries that aluminium dust explosions/fires are commonplace. It is also our hope that aluminium plants who previously failed to acknowledge this hazard finally do so. Here is some photos of the aftermath of the explosion. Please note the captions.

Many of the injured suffered severe burns. According to the deputy chief of the health bureau in region, combustible dust which stuck to the skin of the workers burned between 50 to 90 percent of their bodies.

Workers who escaped the blast said the production lines were always enveloped in metallic dust so thick that visibility was limited to one meter.

Authorities have detained two executives of the firm for questioning, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Experts suggested the explosion was caused by the dust of aluminum alloy, which the factory uses to coat car wheels to make them shiny and resistant to wear. Pulverized aluminum is released when workers use sandpaper to polish the coating.

The APSB offers our prayers to the deceased and injured worker’s families, friends and coworkers. The APSB can accept that this horrific incident actually occurred, but can’t understand why it was let to occur! This was not a random unexpected event. From the news reports, the above photos captions, eyewitness accounts state that this facility had a severe dust accumulation problem. An explosion was going to occur in this facility. It was just a matter of time when it would occur not if it would occur...