Fires and explosions

Citation

(1999), "Fires and explosions", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.1999.07308aac.007

Fires and explosions

Fires and explosions

24 January 1998 ­ Dhaka, Bangladesh

At least seven people were killed and three others seriously injured in a fire that broke out at a cosmetics factory in Dhaka early Thursday (22 January), the local Press reported yesterday. The fire broke out at the Motional Chemical Co when the power supply went off, witnesses said. The fire brigade and police said the fire originated from a candle which a worker was trying to light when the power was off. The boiling chemicals for making cosmetics then suddenly caught fire and soon engulfed the room, severely injuring all the ten workers inside, they said. A worker was burnt to death on the spot, and six others died in hospital later. A criminal case was filed with the police, and the owner of the factory absconded, the reports said.

30 January 1998 ­ Liaoning Province, China

A gas explosion at a coal mine in north-eastern China last week killed 77 people and injured eight, the Xinhua news agency said today. Officials were still investigating the cause of the accident at the state-owned Wangjiaying coal mine in Liaoning province on 24 January, Xinhua said, quoting the Ministry of Coal Industry. Chai Zhaoxi, director of the safety department under the Ministry of Coal Industry, said the fire in the mine shaft has been extinguished. The explosion killed 77, he said, adding that only one of the eight injured miners remained in critical condition. Last week's blast ripped through a new shaft that was not yet operational when a large team of workers was installing equipment, he said. A team, consisting of officials from the ministries of coal industry and labour and the provincial government, went into the shaft today to investigate the accident, Xinhua said. "But they won't get a sure answer on the cause of the accident until the water in the 300-metre long shaft is completely drained away, which will take three to four days", Chai said.

25 January 1998 ­ Jakarta, Indonesia

Brush fires are smouldering again on Indonesia's side of Borneo island as a drought induced by the El Nino weather pattern lingers, the official Antara news agency reported today. At least 165,352 hectares of forest were destroyed last year when fires ravaged various areas of the Indonesian archipelago. The fires also spawned a choking smog which spread over parts of South-east Asia, causing health problems and hit tourism. Antara said today that satellite images made by the US. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed hundreds of "hot spots", or areas affected by bushfires in various parts of Kalimantan on Borneo. Antara said many of the hot spots were located at the Bukit Suharto forest reserve in East Kalimantan province. Motorists had complained of poor visibility on roads near the reserve, it said. "A vast area of yellowish bush in the forest park has begun to smoulder again, while trees are withering in the prolonged dry season", Antara said. Forestry Minister Djamaluddin said last month that drought triggered by the EI Nino weather pattern could persist in Indonesia this year. El Nino, an upswelling of warmer water in the Pacific Ocean that disrupts the global climate, has been blamed for Indonesia's worst drought in decades last year. Antara, quoting a report by the Integrated Forest Management (IFFM) written in co-operation between Indonesia and Germany, said Indonesia would experience a second part of the prolonged drought this year because of the El Nino phenomenon. The rainy season usually begins in January in Kalimantan, a vast patchwork of forest, timber estates and winding rivers. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has said an estimated one million hectares of peat was still burning in Indonesia. It said fires would likely Flare up again in the next dry season starting in May. Last year's fires were started during land clearing by plantation companies and small farmers and spread quickly because of the drought. There has been no official estimate of the value of losses caused by the blazes.

26 March 1998 ­ Beijing, China

Eleven Chinese coalminers were killed and 14 injured after a leak of natural gas sparked underground fires in the south-west province of Sichuan, state radio reported today. The victims were asphyxiated or suffered burns in the accident on Monday (23 March), the radio said. Gas was released during drilling and "caused fires in coal pits in the area and asphyxiated coal miners", it said. "Eleven people died, six were seriously injured in the asphyxiation, while seven suffered lesser injuries and one sustained injuries from burns", the radio reported.

5 April 1998 ­ Donetsk, Ukraine

More than 30 Ukrainian coal miners trapped below ground after a methane gas explosion were found dead today, raising the final death toll at the pit in Donetsk to 63. It was one of Ukraine's worst mining disasters. Rescue teams continued the laborious and dangerous task of bringing bodies to the surface from a collapsed new seam at the city's Skochinsky mine, where some 600 men were working when the methane blast ripped through the pit yesterday morning. A total of 30 bodies were found by yesterday evening and rescuers battled overnight to burrow through 300 metres of rubble, 1.2 km below ground, to reach survivors. In the end, all had either died in the explosion or had suffocated. With everyone now accounted for, 43 men were still in hospital, nine of them in critical condition. Some of the injured were poisoned by gas because their personal breathing apparatus failed to work, rescue workers said. "All 63 bodies have been found although only 37 have so far been brought to the surface", Ukraine's deputy coal minister Viktor Shchepachov said in Donetsk, the capital of Ukraine's important eastern Donbass coal mining region. Underground temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius and the constant threat of a new collapse or explosion were hampering recovery efforts. Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Beloblotsky, heading an investigation into the accident, called it a "national tragedy" and expected President Lionid Kuchma to declare Monday a day of national mourning throughout the country. Beloblotsky said the government would do all it could for the victims' families. Widows are entitled to five years' pay, about $12,000 plus a year for each dependent child.

A trade union official said the toll was particularly high as the blast occurred as the shift was changing on the ill-fated section six. Some 600 men were at work at the time. "I think this was a pure accident. Nothing could he done", said local miners' union leader Valery Miller. An alarm signal warning of high methane levels was triggered half an hour before the explosion, he said, shutting off electric power to avoid sparks in part of the mine, but there had been no call for evacuation and a new shift was taking over. Rescue workers said some men were poisoned because their breathing apparatus failed. Thirty bodies were found by yesterday evening and rescuers battled overnight to burrow through 300 metres of rubble, 1.2km below ground, to reach survivors. In the end, all had either died in the explosion or had suffocated. With everyone accounted for, 43 men were still in hospital.