An explosion occurred at an aluminum alloy plant on Tuesday morning in Dengfeng, Central China’s Henan Province. No casualties were reported as of press time, said local authorities.
Local emergency management staff have rushed to the scene.
The incident occurred at around 6:00 am at an aluminum alloy plant in a village of Gaocheng township after flood water from a nearby river poured into an alloy tank with a high temperature solution, according to a statement Dengfeng government issued on Tuesday.
After Dengfeng experienced heavy rainstorm on Monday, the water level of the Yinghe River soared and exceeded the warning line at around 4 am. The increased water level resulted in the collapse of the surrounding wall and flooded into the factory, said the statement.
The company later cut the power and evacuated its staff from the plant, it said.
A Gaocheng resident, surnamed Chen, told the Global Times that she heard a loud noise when the explosion occurred. “I thought it was a thunder as it was raining heavily outside then. I checked the time — it was at 6:06 am,” she said.
According to public information, Dengfeng Power Group Aluminum Alloy Company, the enterprise that runs the plant, showed a normal record in its all seven environmental protection onsite inspections.
Dengfeng government officials have arrived at the scene to help with the evacuation of the residents around the plant. No casualties or missing people were reported.
The city authorities have also started flood season safety investigation and rectification.
Dengfeng Meteorological Service issued a yellow (or level-III) warning for rainstorm Monday noon. The warning was raised to red (or level-I) at 9:25 am on Tuesday.
Photo: Screenshot of a video posted by Feidian Video
