17 held for power plant accident in China as toll mounts to 74

November 25, 2016

Beijing, Nov 25: Chinese police detained 17 people for the deadly accident at an under construction power plant in Jiangxi Province as the death toll today mounted to 74.

In addition to the fatalities, two persons sustained injuries when a platform for a cooling tower under construction collapsed at the Fengcheng Power Plant in the city of Yichun yesterday.

The search and rescue operations were completed today, according to the rescue and relief headquarters at the scene.

Sixty-eight victims have been identified so far, most of them millennials, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

Seventeen people were taken into custody for the accident, it said, without revealing their identities.

About 200 of the victims' relatives have arrived in Yichun to identify the deceased. Counsellors have been deployed to help them to come to terms with the tragedy.

Those killed and injured in the incident were working at the site at 7:00 am (local time) when the platform collapsed, the report said.

President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang had urged local authorities to spare no efforts in the rescue operations, treatment and follow-up work.

More than 200 firefighters were deployed, as well as search and rescue dogs. 32 fire engines and 212 military personnel had also been deployed, local officials said.

Images from state broadcaster CCTV showed a pile of twisted metal and dozens of rescue workers searching for victims under the rubble.

The construction of two 1,000-megawatt coal-fired power units at the power station began last July and was expected to be completed by early 2018, the local government said.

The plant is owned by Jiangxi Ganneng Co Ltd., a state-owned power corporation listed in Shenzhen. Trading of its shares was suspended today following the accident.

China has a long history of industrial accidents, from factory explosions to mine collapses and there have been growing demands for more stringent safety standards.

Two drones and seven cranes were also involved in the rescue efforts.

Last year, the Chinese port city of Tianjin was rocked by two massive blasts, killing at least 173 people and injuring hundreds others.

A metal dust explosion at a car parts factory in eastern China in August 2014 killed at least 75 people and injured more than 18 others.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Spain blocks arms ship from India to Israel amid ongoing Gaza genocide

News Network

May 18,2024

In a humanitarian move, Spain has refused entry to a ship carrying arms from India’s Chennai to Israel to dock at one of its ports, its Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has said.

The Denmark-flagged cargo ship Marianne Danica sailed from Chennai on April 8 when people in Gaza were observing Ramadan fasting, and was headed to the port of Haifa in Israel, according to maritime tracking portals and Spanish media.

Spain has been extremely critical of the rising civilian casualties due to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and, along with Belgium, has suspended arms exports licenses to Tel Aviv.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal, at the weekly press conference, only said that they have seen the report of the ship and will revert with more information.

Meanwhile, a source said, “Investigation will reveal if the items on board were cleared for export and if the end user is the same as reported by The Guardian because there are items that are not banned for exports.”

Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Thursday on the issue, Mr. Albares had said, “This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port.”

“This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The Foreign Ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: the Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace,” he stated.

The ship was carrying 27 tonnes of explosives according to local reports. It was to make a port call at Cartegena in Spain.
In February, Mr. Albares said that they had suspended arms export licences to Israel since October 7, which he said made them “realise” the importance of a “fair and lasting solution” to the Palestinian cause.

The incident comes amid an ongoing row between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s party and his coalition partners over another ship, Borkum, that was due to dock at Cartegena port on Friday over allegations that it was carrying arms meant for Israel. However, the Spanish government has said that the arms it is ferrying are meant for the Czech Republic.

Belgium had suspended two arms export licences to Israel.

“We welcome the decision of the Spanish government to deny the transit authorisation of the vessel Marianne Danica, in accordance with Tratado (treaty) on Arms Trade and Spanish law,” Amnesty International Spain said on social media platform ‘X’.

The timing also coincides with the Israeli ground offensive inside Rafah. According to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at least 6,30,000 Palestinians have been forced out of Rafah since the launch of the incursion on May 7.

Comments