Fires and explosions

Citation

(2001), "Fires and explosions", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 10 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2001.07310dac.004

Fires and explosions

Fires and explosions

29 September 2000 – Coal Mine, Shuicheng, China

A gas explosion in a coal-mine in south-western Guizhou Province left as many as 161 miners dead or missing, officials said yesterday. A mine official said that there were 118 deaths but others said that rescue efforts were still under way and the fate of scores of miners remained unknown nearly a day after the accident on Wednesday night (27 September) in Liupanshui city, Shuicheng county. "There are no signs of life from the mine," said police officer Qian Shixi. Hundreds of rescue workers were trying to restart the mine's ventilation system so that they could get in and search for survivors. A mine official said that rescuers were using picks, shovels and their bare hands to try to open a route to those trapped underground. "We're using human power only, no machines. It's too dangerous to use machines or explosives," he said. At least 36 people rescued from the Muchonggou mine were being treated for burns and other injuries. The state-owned Muchonggou mine was properly licensed, unlike the small, unlicensed mines that account for a large share of China's fatal industrial accidents. A mining affairs official said the blast was blamed on a build-up of gas but the exact cause was still under investigation.

2 October 2000 – Rescuers were today trying to contact 52 coal-miners missing underground five days after an explosion in southern China, which killed more than 100 people, officials said today. Rescuers were still looking for signs of survivors from the blast last Wednesday (27 September) in the Muchonggou coal-mine in Guizhou province, said an official of the mine office. "They don't hear any sound from inside the mine," said the official. Rescuers have found 107 bodies, said an official of the provincial executive office. The mine official said that rescuers had cut a small passage through the rubble but still were not sure where the missing miners were. A total of 85 miners were reported to have been rescued.

20 October 2000 – Mexico City, Mexico

A fire ripped through a nightclub in central Mexico City today, killing several people and creating a traffic snarl on a major city thoroughfare. The government's Notimex news agency reported that at least seven people had died at the Lobohombo nightclub. The Televisa television network said that police reported 17 dead. Notimex said most of those killed were believed to be workers at the club. Notimex said that the fire broke out shortly after 05.00hrs. The cause was not immediately known. The blaze was apparently extinguished before dawn. Police and firefighters blocked off traffic on the busy Insurgentes avenue in both directions in front of the nightclub, which is located near the intersection with another major thoroughfare, the Paseo de la Reforma.

20 October 2000 – At least 20 people were killed and another 28 injured early today after being trapped in a pre-dawn fire in a trendy Mexico City dance club that authorities had shut 11 times before for code violations. Witnesses said the fire in the sprawling "Lobohombo" club started with an explosion at 05.00hrs, shortly before it was to close at dawn. The blaze was fuelled by the club's interior decoration, plastic flammable materials that simulated a jungle setting, they said. Witnesses said that most of the dead, many of them waiters and other employees of the club, were killed when fire caused the club's ceiling to collapse. Authorities were still probing the cause of the fire. They speculated that a short circuit could have sparked the explosion and blaze. Mexico City police spokesman David Sanchez confirmed that the charred bodies of 20 people had been recovered from what remains of the club. Another 28 were in local hospitals, many with severe burns. Others were hurt when the bar's occupants battled, with one another to escape. Dozens of firemen brought the blaze under control within two hours. Dolores Padierna, the government representative for the central Mexico City precinct where the fire took place, said that the Lobohombo club had been closed 11 times before for safety, security and administrative violations. She said that "the dangerous mafias that run these types of establishments" had subsequently gained court orders allowing them to reopen the club. Mexico City Mayor Rosario Robles said that she had ordered the arrest of the club's owner, Alejandro Iglesias. "I've ordered my attorney-general to act quickly to arrest the owner for manslaughter," Robles said. Padierna, who is campaigning to shut down illegal nightclubs in the area where the fire occurred, said that Iglesias operates 80 such spots.

3 November 2000 – Eastern Jiangxi Province, China

A total of 13 Chinese coal- miners died when a fire broke out in a mine in eastern Jiangxi province, local officials said today. The blaze erupted in Pinghu coal-mine about 60km south of the provincial capital of Nanchang early yesterday, trapping 36 miners, according to an official at Fengcheng Mining Industry Bureau. Today, rescue workers had pulled out the bodies of 13 dead miners, and rescued 22, including eight who were seriously injured, an official said. He said that one miner was missing from the mine where the fire was still blazing today. The cause of the fire was being investigated.

7 November 2000 – Liaoyuan, China

A gas explosion has killed at least 13 coal-miners and left another 18 missing in the latest disaster to strike China's accident-plagued mines, state media reported today. Search crews worked to recover bodies and rescue survivors from Sunday's explosion at the Xi'an mine near the north-eastern city of Liaoyuan, said local officials, who confirmed the accident but refused to provide details. The official Beijing Morning Post newspaper reported that, as of late yesterday, rescuers had retrieved 13 bodies and found two miners gravely injured. It could not be determined whether another 18 missing miners were alive or dead, the report said.

7 November 2000 – Osun State, Nigeria

More than 100 people were killed in south-west Nigeria when a petrol tanker crashed into a queue of stationary cars and burst into flames. The accident happened on the Ife to Ibadan motorway in Osun State on Saturday (4 November). Dozens of people were burned alive – police say that 96 bodies have been retrieved but the final death toll could be much higher. Osun state police are denying claims that they were responsible for the accident. Press reports quote local people as saying that the cars had been queuing at a roadblock erected by police on the road to demand money from motorists. The Osun State police commissioner, Ganiyu Dawoudu, denied the reports. He said the traffic queue was caused by road works. A police team which tried to visit the scene on Sunday was attacked by a crowd and forced to run away. Their vehicle was set on fire by an angry mob and completely destroyed. The accident, which involved more than ten vehicles, happened on Saturday in heavy traffic. A police spokesman said that the tanker exploded shortly after discharging petrol on to the road. He said that many people were seriously injured in the fire and had been taken to nearby hospitals.

18 November 2000 – Lenasia, South Africa

Police in South Africa said that at least 11 people died when fire raged through a floor-polish factory, in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg. A police spokesman said that the fire seemed to have started when a gas-bottle exploded, triggering a fire. Police are investigating reports that the victims were workers who had been locked in the ESS Chemicals factory building without an emergency escape route. Police and fire fighters have already removed some bodies from the burned-out building, but are searching for others. The roof caved in during the blast, slowing down recovery. The owner said that there should have been 13 people on the night shift, but he said that one did not come in. He said that it appeared that the people inside tried to break down a storeroom door in an attempt to get out of the factory.

21 November 2000 – The owner and manager of a factory that exploded Friday and left 11 workers dead have been arrested on suspicions that they locked the employees into the factory, police said today. The owner and the manager of ESS Chemicals, a floor polish manufacturer, could face murder and other charges, police spokesman Superintendent Richard Luvhengo said. The two men were set to appear in court tomorrow. The factory's door appeared to have been locked, and there was no emergency exit as required, Luvhengo said. The positioning of the bodies indicated that the victims had tried to get out, but were unable, he added. The fire broke out in the small brick building late Friday (17 November), causing an explosion when it spread to gas containers. The fire probably started when a highly flammable chemical dripped on to a gas burner, police said. The chemical and the gas containers were illegally stored inside the factory.