An investigation into the fiery blast at a Chinese auto parts factory that killed at least 75 people on Aug. 2 show that the company is mainly to blame for the incident, Reuters reported.
Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Parts Co. Ltd., which supplies parts for cars made by General Motors, had safety facilities that weren't up to par, the working environment was poor and its production methods were illegal. The explosion started after a flame was lit in a dusty room, which injured 185 people in addition to the 75 deaths, and was described as a severe safety violation. The city of Kunshan is about 600 miles southeast of Beijing.
In addition to naming factory Chairman Wu Ji-Tao as one suspect, China's leading safety group pointed fingers at local government authority figures in Kunshan for poor oversight, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Yang Dongliang, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, said the cause of the flame that started the explosion could have come from electrical equipment short-circuits or heat created by chemical reactions after equipment used to get rid of dust was exposed to water. Industrial accidents kill thousands of Chinese workers a year and safety at job sites is a major concern for leaders in China.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Zhongrong employs 450 people at the plant in Kunshan and more than 260 people were in the factory when the explosion happened at about 7:40 a.m. local time. Injured workers had between 50 to 90 percent of their bodies burned when metallic dust stuck to the skin of factory employees. The company was widely known for having high levels of dust and workers told the Wall Street Journal that no one was told how to deal with the hazards of dust.
"It was like a sauna room, and dust everywhere from the ground to the air," Li Xiang, a 24-year-old former Zhongrong worker told the Wall Street Journal.
