Chlorine Gas Blasts in China Kill 9; 150,000 Are Evacuated

Leaking chlorine gas exploded at a chemical plant in southern China, killing nine people and forcing 150,000 to flee their homes, the government said today.

The explosions occurred Friday evening at the Tianyuan Chemical Industry Plant in the city of Chongqing, according to the official New China News Agency.

At least seven containers of liquefied chlorine were leaking fumes, which could be smelled 1,000 feet away, the report said. It was not immediately clear what triggered the explosions.

Firefighters were spraying a mixture of water and lye into the air to try to clear some of the gas, the agency said.

The leaks were first detected late Thursday, the agency said, citing Vice Mayor Zhou Mubing. Minor explosions were heard later that night, but official reports then didn’t mention injuries. Residents were evacuated from areas within two miles of the plant.

In December, 243 people were killed as a gas well leak near Chongqing sent a toxic cloud across villages, in one of China’s deadliest reported industrial disasters. More than 9,000 people were treated for injuries and about 60,000 were evacuated.