The death toll from a fire at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex in Russia’s Far East has risen to 15, while 39 people remain under medical treatment, the company said on Thursday.
The company said search-and-rescue operations at the facility had been completed, confirming that those killed included one Russian citizen and 14 foreign nationals. All of the victims were employees of contractors working at the complex.
Emergency recovery operations are now under way in coordination with Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry.
According to the company, 39 injured people remain in medical facilities, with some transferred to Moscow for further treatment.
The company said air-quality monitoring was continuing at the plant, surrounding areas and nearby communities, including Svobodny, with no harmful substances detected above permitted levels.
The fire broke out on Tuesday in what the company described, based on preliminary information, as an auxiliary process section of the facility’s pyrolysis unit. The blaze was subsequently extinguished, while residual industrial gases were burned under the supervision of specialists.
Earlier search operations had recovered the bodies of several Chinese workers, with an initial confirmed death toll of seven reported on Wednesday.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened an investigation into a possible violation of safety requirements and is working to establish the precise cause of the incident.
Located near the Russia-China border, the Amur Gas Chemical Complex is a joint project between Russian petrochemical company SIBUR and China’s Sinopec.
The facility, which has yet to begin production, is intended to become one of the world’s largest producers of polyethylene and polypropylene for Russian and international markets.