Chemical leak kills 15 in shanghai,china.

AN ammonia leak from a cold storage
unit at a food company in China’s
commercial hub of Shanghai has killed 15
people and sickened dozens.
The leak sickened 26 people, who had
been sent to hospital, with six in critical
condition, the Shanghai government said
in a statement following the leak
yesterday.
The accident occurred shortly before
midday in the northern district of
Baoshan due to a leaking pipe linked to a
refrigeration unit owned by a seafood
company, media reports said.
More than 200 firefighters were deployed
to the scene, using water to disperse the
liquid ammonia and its fumes, the
Xinmin Evening News said.
Photos on the newspaper’s website
showed fire engines at the scene with
hoses on the ground and a truck used to
monitor environmental pollution.
The government did not say whether the
company’s workers or people living in the
urban area nearby were affected.
Liquid ammonia used in refrigeration can
destroy lung tissue, potentially resulting
in death, and cause chemical burns on the
skin, according to the US Occupational
Safety and Health Administration.
Shanghai environmental officials denied a
“pungent smell” in the area earlier in the
day was caused by the ammonia leak.
The food company involved, Shanghai
Weng’s Cold Storage Industrial Co., is
engaged in the import and export,
storage, processing and sales of aquatic
products.
It has the capacity to freeze 150 tonnes of
products a day, according to its website.
Shanghai is considered to be more tightly
regulated than other cities in China, but
this marks the second accident at a food
company in the city in less than a month.
On August 20, five workers at a local food
company died after inhaling poisonous
fumes while cleaning a vat used for
making pickled vegetables, according to
the government.
China has a dismal record on industrial
safety as lax enforcement of laws causes
business owners to cut corners or offer
bribes to evade standards.
More than 27,700 people were killed or
went missing in workplace accidents in
the first half of this year, state media have
reported.
A total of 226,048 workplace accidents
occurred in the first half, down 3.8
percent from the same period last year,
the China Daily newspaper said.
A fire caused by an ammonia leak at a
poultry processing plant in the northeast
province of Jilin in June killed more than
a hundred people.