A massive explosion rocked a chemical plant in eastern China on Tuesday, sending a towering plume of gray and orange smoke into the sky and damaging windows in nearby buildings. The blast occurred at the Shandong Youdao Chemical plant in Gaomi city, Shandong province, around noon local time. According to the local emergency management bureau, rescue and medical efforts are currently underway.
Witnesses described the moment of the explosion, with one staff member at a hotel 3.5 kilometers away saying, “The sound was quite loud with a bang. It only lasted for a moment.”
Fortunately, the hotel didn’t suffer any damage. Another worker at a factory about 6 kilometers away heard a boom and felt a shake, describing “a strong gust of wind” that damaged doors and windows in her office. She recounted, “A strong gust of airflow scared me so much that I didn’t dare leave my office… The airflow rushed in through the window, and if I had been a bit closer, it might have thrown me against the wall.”
The local fire and rescue services quickly responded, dispatching 55 vehicles and 232 personnel to the scene. The Ministry of Emergency Management also sent a working group and rescue reinforcements. As of now, there are no official reports on casualties, but the incident has raised concerns about industrial safety in China.
Shandong Youdao Chemical, owned by the Himel Group, operates in the Gaomi Renhe chemical park, employing over 300 people. The company develops, produces, and sells pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and chemical intermediates. Following the incident, Himel Group’s shares dropped nearly 4% on Tuesday afternoon.
This incident marks the third major chemical plant explosion in Shandong in the last five years, sparking debates about the gap between industrial growth and safety regulation enforcement.