Rescuers are searching for nine people who have been out of contact since an explosion and fire at the Nizhnekamskneftekhim plant, Sibur announced. The missing include employees of contractor organizations.
“All efforts of the Russian federal investigating authority and Nizhnekamskneftekhim’s services are now directed at finding and rescuing them. The human resources specialists and corporate psychologists of the enterprise are in round-the-clock contact with the families of every employee whose fate remains unknown,” the company said.
As of the morning of April 1, three deaths had been confirmed, including the commander of a fire brigade unit. Twenty-two people have been hospitalized. More than 70 people were injured in total.
The explosion and fire at Nizhnekamskneftekhim in Nizhnekamsk occurred on March 31. Sibur, the company that owns the plant, attributed the fire to an equipment malfunction. The Russian federal investigating authority opened a criminal case on charges of violating industrial safety requirements at hazardous production facilities. A three-day period of mourning was declared in Nizhnekamsk in connection with the incident.
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