Seven people, including six Chinese nationals, were killed and nine Chinese workers remain missing after a fire at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex in Russia’s Far East, the plant said Wednesday.
The blaze broke out Tuesday at the facility, which is still under construction and preparing to begin production. A total of 152 people sought medical treatment, with 36 taken to hospital. An emergency services aircraft was deployed to transfer some of the injured to other medical facilities.
The complex is a joint project between Russian petrochemicals company Sibur and China’s Sinopec and is expected to produce 2.3 million metric tons of polyethylene and 400,000 tons of polypropylene annually.
The accident comes as Russia’s Far East becomes increasingly tied to Chinese investment, labor and industrial cooperation, amid Moscow’s economic pivot toward Beijing.
Russia’s Investigative Committee is examining whether industrial safety regulations were breached and has not yet established the cause.