Tragedy Strikes Liaoning Chemical Plant as Explosion Leaves 20+ Dead, Scene Resembling a Disaster Movie

Panjin: On January 15th, tragedy struck the Haoye Chemical Plant in Panjin, Liaoning. Witnesses say an explosion caused a mushroom cloud to reach the sky and the shockwave was felt as far as 20 kilometers away. The resulting fire left the factory burned to the ground and it's said that more than 20 workers were killed and many more seriously injured.

Reported that at 13:25 an explosion at the plant caused thick smoke to billow from the scene. As of 17:00, firefighters were still attempting to close some chemical raw material pipelines to quell the blaze, but four or five workers remain out of contact per preliminary investigations. The incident is believed to have been caused due to maintenance operations on an alkylation unit pipeline that had leaked and caught fire while the plant was under normal production.

Reports from residents have been heard:

“I was opening the window to clean the glass, and a shock wave came from far away, and the sound was loud (6 kilometers away from the factory)”

“More than 20 kilometers away from Gaosheng, my building was shaken. At first, the sound of the explosion was thought to be someone’s house. After shaking, I wondered if I was dizzy. Later, I realized that it was an explosion when I saw the group! I hope everyone is safe!”

“Haoye exploded, blowing up the heating boilers in the nearby area, and the temperature in unheated homes continued to drop.”

A netizen's video reveals the aftermath of an explosion that rocked the Haoye Chemical Plant in Panjin, Liaoning. The surveillance footage from 2.23 pm showed a disaster movie-like scene with complete destruction, fires raging and smoke billowing. Despite efforts to extinguish the blaze, it continued until 8:30pm that night. The intensity of the explosion was clearly visible as seen in the video - flames licked high into the air and a huge mushroom cloud rose above the factory. Tragically, many workers were severely injured or even killed by this catastrophic event.

According to the official website of Liaoning Panjin Haoye Chemical Co., Ltd., the company is a privately owned business that has been around since 2012. It boasts an impressive 550 million yuan in registered capital and 10 billion yuan in assets and is predicted to be ranked 52nd among China's top 500 petrochemical companies this year. Its main products range from national VI and Beijing VI standard refined oil, high-grade road asphalt, petroleum coke, isooctane, propane, propylene, and aromatics. Official reports indicate that the blast likely originated from the alkylation unit inside the facility.