Event
At 7:45 AM local time, the ladle in question separated from the overhead iron rail that connected it to the blast furnace while it was being positioned over a worktable in preparation to pour out its contents. All 30 tons of liquid steel, which were at a temperature of approximatively 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,730 F), were spilt. This liquid steel then burst through the windows and door of an adjoining room five meters (fifteen feet) away where workers had gathered during a change of shifts, engulfing the room entirely.
When the emergency services arrived, they were initially unable to provide assistance as they were forced back by the high temperatures, and had to first wait for the area to cool. When they were eventually able to access the area, they discovered thirty-two workers had been killed by the steel. Six others in the room survived and were rushed to the hospital with severe burns. According to doctors, five were initially listed as being in a stable condition, with the other listed as critical. They were said to be of risk of contracting infections through their burns. However, an earlier statement on the website of the State Administration of Work Safety published conflicting information, saying that the thirty-two deceased represented everyone in the room at the time, and that only two people were injured - the operators of the ladle. The official Xinhua press agency also released a report stating that the ladle fell on workers below, but this was unclear as in to whether the workers were in fact crushed or whether this, too, conflicted with the other reports.
After rescuing the six survivors, rescuers then recovered the bodies of the thirty-two deceased.
Read more about this topic: Qinghe Special Steel Corporation Disaster
Famous quotes containing the word event:
“There is not any present moment that is unconnected with some future one. The life of every man is a continued chain of incidents, each link of which hangs upon the former. The transition from cause to effect, from event to event, is often carried on by secret steps, which our foresight cannot divine, and our sagacity is unable to trace. Evil may at some future period bring forth good; and good may bring forth evil, both equally unexpected.”
—Joseph Addison (16721719)
“In the event of an oxygen shortage on airplanes, mothers of young children are always reminded to put on their own oxygen mask first, to better assist the children with theirs. The same tactic is necessary on terra firma. Theres no way of sustaining our children if we dont first rescue ourselves. I dont call that selfish behavior. I call it love.”
—Joyce Maynard (20th century)
“The situation is that of him who is helpless, cannot act, in the event cannot paint, since he is obliged to paint. The act is of him who, helpless, unable to act, acts, in the event paints, since he is obliged to paint.”
—Samuel Beckett (19061989)