September 3, 2013

Due to ammonia fumes leakage at a Shanghai seafood cold storage plant, 15 workers died and 25 injured, six of which are said to be in a critical state.

The accident happened at Weng's Cold Storage Industrial Co. Ltd, in the district of Baoshan, eastern Shanghai at 10.50 am local time, reports the local municipal government.

The firm specialises in imports and exports, purchasing, logistics, cold storage, processing, sales and international trade of seafood products

All the deceased and injured workers were present at the plant at the time of the accident. The authorities ensure that the leak was contained within the plant and posed no danger to the general public.

Injured people have since been hospitalised, as they needed immediate treatment because of the effects of the caustic gas.  

Safety at the workplace does not rank well in China as this is not the first instance of ammonia leakages in the country. A fire hazard claimed the lives of 121 people and injured 76 at a chicken processing plant in the Jilin province last June and in October 2012, another ammonia-leak-related accident claimed the lives of a further 479 people poisoned in Honghu City, Hubei Province, the newspapers informed.

Exposure to ammonia fumes can cause ammonia toxicity, which produces chronic respiratory complications and a symptomatic airway oedema. Most victims of the accident had internal burns immediately after inhaling the ammonia fumes.

The causes of the accident are still being investigated.