Fires and explosions

Citation

(1999), "Fires and explosions", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 8 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.1999.07308cac.007

Fires and explosions

Fires and explosions

Keywords Explosions, Fires, Hazardous materials

26 May 1998 ­ Sichuan Province, China

At least seven people have been killed in a coal mine explosion in south western China, the China Mining News said today. Seventeen miners were missing and the death toll was expected to climb, the newspaper said. Rescuers have recovered seven bodies and rescued three people after the gas explosion ripped through Jingang coal mine in Sichuan province on Monday (25 May), it said. The cause of the blast was still under investigation, it added without giving further details.24 May 1998 ­ The death toll from a coal mine explosion in south-western China has risen to 26, the China News Service said today. Eighteen other miners listed as missing were feared dead, it said, adding that three injured miners had been pulled out of the rubble. The cause of the explosion was still under investigation. The blast caused an estimated two million yuan ($241,000) in damage, the newsletter quoted Tao Daquan, deputy director of the local mining bureau's production management division, as saying.

10 June 1998 ­ Palembang, Indonesia

A fire in an Indonesian shopping and cinema complex killed at least 22 people when some of those fleeing the blaze were trapped by a locked door, the Kompas newspaper said today. Only two of the victims could be identified after the fire in the 5,000 square-metre shopping complex in Palembang, the paper said. The fire started on Monday night (8 June) in a textile shop, the paper said. The Jakarta Post quoted police as blaming the blaze, which was only extinguished yesterday afternoon, on an electrical fault. The paper quoted one survivor as saying patrons of a billiard hall had panicked after hearing warnings of the fire and headed for the stairs only to find a door on the second level locked. He said some people were crushed when they had to retrace their path up the stairs to the fifth floor where some were able to escape through a department store. The paper said 15 of the victims, who had not been identified, were found on the third floor of the complex.

17 June 1998 ­ Yekaterinburg, Russia

Lightning set off huge explosions and a fire at a munitions dump in a Russian military base today, killing six soldiers and injuring 14, Russian media said. Reports late today said the blaze at the base in the Urals region was still raging. Firefighting aircraft dropped water on the flames and thousands of people were evacuated from their homes. The Defence Ministry said in a statement that lightning struck the explosives store in the village of Losiny, 30km north-east of the regional capital, Yekaterinburg. A report by NTV television said six soldiers died when antipersonnel mines and antitank mines exploded, and there was a risk that shells for multi-launch artillery systems would also ignite. Between 160 and 240 tonnes of munitions may have been stored at the dump, after being taken there when Soviet troops were withdrawn from eastern Germany, the report said. Some 3,000 villagers had been evacuated and hundreds of firefighters were battling the blaze, it added.18 June 1998 ­ At least 11 people, including the head of a local military base, died in a fire after lightning hit an explosives store in Russia's Urals region, officials said today. "The fire is now being put out by dumping water from an Emergencies Ministry Ilyushin II-76 aircraft" said Viktor Durnev, an Emergencies Ministry official. "When such arsenals burn, you can't put it out in just one day." Alexei Alexeyev, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Moscow, said the base commander died in the incident, and 1,300 villagers were evacuated from the area. He said 30 people were hurt and 18 of them were in hospital.