Thailand — Twelve people were killed and 129 hurt in the explosion and fire at a petrochemical factory at the Map Ta Phut industrial estate in Rayong province on Saturday, Deputy Public Health Minister Surawit Khonsomboon confirmed on Sunday.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra travelled to Map Ta Phut on Sunday for talks, and visited victims of the explosion at the hospital.

Mr Surawit said of the 12 killed, nine died in the explosion at a factory owned by Bangkok Synthethics Co (BSC), two at Bangkok-Rayong Hospital and one at Rayong Hospital.

Of the 129 injured, 99 had been released and 30 were still undergoing treatment – seven at Rayong Hospital, five at Map Ta Phut Hospital, 17 at Bangkok-Rayong Hospital, and one at Queen Sirikit Hospital.

Mr Surawit said the costs of medical treatment for the injured will be taken care of by the government under three healthcare schemes.

Industry Minister Pongsvas Svasti said he had ordered the closure of the factory where the explosion occurred. He has also instructed other factories in the industrial estate to recheck their security systems since the operations of more than half of them concern chemicals.

Verapong Chaiperm, governor of the Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand, said the fire at the factory was extinguished early Sunday. The damage had yet to be assessed, he said.

Kessarin Raksasang, an environment officer at BSC, said toluene might have caused the fire after being exposed to excessive heat.

Before the fire, the factory was closed for repairs, she said.

Early today, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra visited the industrial estate and met the people injured in the explosion.

Ms Yingluck has also set up a tripartite committee to examine possible toxic contamination in the area. The committee comprises experts from the Industry Ministry, the Pollution Control Department and representatives from local communties.

Thousands of people in 12 communities around Map Ta Phut were evacuated yesterday.

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USA — A large natural gas line in north Texas erupted Monday after utility workers accidentally hit the line, sending a massive fireball into the air and killing one worker, officials said.

Authorities found the missing worker’s body several hours after the explosion, once searchers could safely walk through the entire charred area. Authorities had hoped the missing man had left the scene on his own, like some of his colleagues who drove themselves to hospitals.

Brian Fine, Hood County’s emergency management coordinator, said the worker’s body was found some distance from the blast site. The man’s name was not immediately released.

The worker had been riding a truck drilling holes for utility poles when the line suddenly exploded, and other workers lost sight of him in the intense smoke, said Roger Harmon, Johnson County’s top elected official.

Near the blast site in rural Johnson County about 50 miles southwest of Dallas, officials later found the truck upside down and saw that the 2,000-pound drilling component had been ripped off the vehicle and hurled 250 feet away, said Cleburne Fire Chief Clint Ishmael.

At least seven of the other 13 workers who had been working at the site went to hospitals. Gary Marks, CEO of Glen Rose Medical Center, said two people were treated and released, and four others were in stable condition. One patient was taken to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth. Spokeswoman Whitney Jodry did not have person’s condition.

Laura Harlin, a resident of nearby Granbury, said around the time of the blast she heard a “huge rumbling” that initially sounded like thunder and then like a tornado because it lasted so long.

“For about 10 minutes, it was so loud that it was like there was an 18-wheeler rumbling in your driveway,” she said.

The explosion caused confusion among officials in its immediate aftermath, with one city official initially saying three people had been killed.

Heat from the blast forced firefighters to stay about a half-mile away until the gas flow was shut off, and they were unable to douse the flames.

A control room at Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners LP, which owns the gas line, immediately identified a break in the line near Cleburne, said company spokesman Rick Rainey. The 36-inch line was equipped with valves that automatically shut down gas to that section of pipe, and the fire was out about two hours after the explosion.

The pipeline helps carry gas from West Texas across the state to utilities, distribution companies and commercial users on the eastern end of the state. Rainey said the company would work with customers to avoid any disruption to their service from the fire.

The injured workers were digging for a subcontractor hired by Waco-based Brazos Electric Cooperative, Snow said. A message seeking comment from that company was not immediately returned. A spokesman for the subcontractor, Oklahoma-based C&H Power Line Construction Services, did not immediately respond to a call for comment either.

Johnson County’s emergency management coordinator, Jack Snow, said officials were investigating whether the gas line was marked. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were also at the scene.

The Texas natural gas blast followed one in West Virginia earlier Monday. Seven workers were burned when a drilling crew hit a pocket of methane gas, triggering an explosion in a rural area about 55 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.

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France — A gasoline tanker travelling on a 4-lane highway in Cotes d’Armor, France, Tuesday afternoon collided with a highway department truck that was working at the side of the divided highway. 

The collision ripped open the forward compartment of the trailer and started a fire involving two of the six compartments.

The crash killed both drivers of the two trucks and sent a flaming river of burning fuel along the roadside.

Sixty firefighters and 45 police officers eventually ended up at the scene and the fire was successfully controlled not long after the 2 pm dispatch.

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Nigeria — A small community along Abuja-Kaduna expressway was completely razed by fire yesterday after a tanker veered off the road and went up in flames.

The loud blast from the tanker spread fear around the area as residents fled in panic thinking it was a bomb blast.

No life was lost in the incident that triggered a city-wide panic and speculations that another bomb had exploded

The incident which occurred around 12 noon in Sabon Gajiri village was the latest in a series of fire incidents affecting the community, leading to loss of property worth millions of naira.

Speaking to leadership Sunday, the village head of Sabon Gajiri, Alhaji Aliyu Haruna whose property was mostly affected in the inferno, said he was still in shock

“As you can see, my houses and that of my sons were completely razed down. My car which I just bought about two weeks ago, including the village mosque were all gutted by the fire. The local government people and NEMA were here earlier, they promised to look into the situation, we hope they keep to their words. However we believe that everything is in the hands of God”.

Locals report that there was no immediate response from the fire service as the fire lasted for several hours and the villagers looked helplessly before their arrival at the scene.

A villager, Sani Ahmad  told our reporter that the fire had bagan to subside before the fire fighters arrived the scene.

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China — Rescue workers on Thursday afternoon recovered the bodies of nine workers after a coal mine flooded in northeastern China a day earlier, government officials said. Five other workers remain missing.

The accident took place at around 7 a.m. local time on Wednesday when a shaft flooded at the Junyuan No. 2 coal mine in the city of Hegang, which is located in Heilongjiang Province. A total of 28 people were working at the mine at the time of the accident.

A spokesman for the State Administration of Work Safety said ten people were able to free themselves on their own while emergency workers rescued another four miners. Nine bodies were also recovered as of Thursday, and five others remain trapped. “The rescue work is still being carried out,” he said.

The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the mine was correctly licensed, but the investor and legal representative of the mine have been detained by authorities. The report did not say why they were detained. The deputy chief in charge of coal mine safety in Xing’an district has been sacked as a result of the incident.

The cause of the incident is still being investigated.

Safety conditions at mines in China have significantly improved in recent years but they remain among the world’s most dangerous with at least 289 fatalities in the first quarter of this year. There were a total of 1,973 fatalities in 2011, 2,433 fatalities in 2010 and 2,631 in 2009, according to official figures.

Last week, a powerful explosion ripped through the Xingya Coal Mine in Bayannur, a prefecture-level city in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of northern China. More than two dozen people were working at the mine when the blast happened, killing nine of them and injuring sixteen others.

And earlier in April, eleven workers were killed when floodwaters trapped a group of miners who were working at the Shanfu Coal Mine near the city of Changzhi in Xiangyuan County, which is located in Shanxi province. The owner of the mine initially claimed nine miners were trapped, but local authorities later discovered that eleven people were working at the mine which was operating with an expired production license.

China in recent years shut down scores of small mines to improve safety and efficiency in the mining industry. The country has also ordered all mines to build emergency shelter systems by June 2013 which are to be equipped with machines to produce oxygen and air conditioning, protective walls and airtight doors to protect workers against toxic gases and other hazardous factors.

The first manned test of such a permanent underground chamber was carried out in August 2011 when around 100 people – including managers, engineers, miners, medical staff, and the chamber’s developers – took part in a 48-hour test at a mine owned by the China National Coal Group in the city of Shuozhou in northern China’s Shanxi Province.

One of the worst mining accidents in China in recent years happened in November 2009 when 104 workers were killed after several explosions at a coal mine in Heilongjiang province.

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Nigeria — Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, has begun the process of drilling a relief well to seal the shallow water Funiwa 1A natural gas well. The relief well is being drilled to extinguish a fire that began since January 16, at the original well approximately six miles (10 km) off the coast of Nigeria.

Chevron said the drilling plans will enable the cementing and abandonment of the Funiwa 1A well. The relief well is being drilled by the Transocean Baltic rig with approvals from Nigerian authorities.

“CNL shares the concerns of the people of Nigeria about this incident. We have engaged with residents of the shoreline communities to listen to their concerns, explain what has happened and demonstrate our extensive response,” said Andrew Fawthrop, chairman and managing director of Chevron’s Nigeria/Mid-Africa business unit.

The company also said it will continue to conduct regular monitoring flights over the incident site and beaches, adding that the water and shorelines have been extensively videotaped and photographed, showing evidence that they have not been affected. Besides, Chevron employs 30 area residents to conduct daily walking inspections of 88 kilometers of shoreline.

“Sampling and testing of air, sea/river water, sediment, soil, fisheries and vegetation is being conducted to determine any impacts on the environment. This analysis is performed by independent environmental consultant, Fugro Nigeria Limited,” the company said.

According to Chevron, there is evidence of muddiness in the seawater close to the incident site due to agitation of the seafloor from escaping natural gas. However, it said, “The gas is being burned at the surface by a fire which has reduced substantially since the start of the incident. The company affirms that no oil was spilled or has flowed from this natural gas well.”

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USA — Samples have been sent to a U.S. lab to determine if sawdust was a possible fuel for the deadly explosion at a Burns Lake, B.C., sawmill in January — the first of two fatal sawmill blasts in the province this year.

No cause for the Jan. 20 explosion at the Babine Forest Products mill has been determined, WorkSafeBC said Wednesday as part of an investigation update.

Two workers died in the explosion and 19 others were injured.

“We’re still looking for ignition sources and fuel sources,” spokeswoman Roberta Ellis said.

The U.S. lab is examining samples taken from the razed mill to determine the “minimum explosive concentration required to be the fuel for an explosion,” WorkSafeBC said.

Investigators are focusing on a 50-by-50 foot area at the mill where the blast ignited. They’re also looking at the type of wood that was milled, including pine beetle wood that tends to produce a dry sawdust.

Natural gas and propane is also being examined as possible fuel sources, while friction and other electric components are being looked at as possible ignition sources.

Arson has been ruled out.

The investigation is expected to be completed in two to three months, Ellis said.

WorkSafeBC is also investigating a second blast that killed two Lakeland Mills sawmill workers in Prince George, B.C., on April 23. Twenty-four others were sent to hospital.

Sawdust levels are of concern at both mills, WorkSafeBC documents show.

The explosion prompted WorkSafeBC to order safety inspections in April of all sawmills in the province.

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Corden Pharma Ltd, trading as Corden Pharmachem Ltd, with registered offices at South Mall, Cork, had pleaded guilty to the four breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 following the explosion at its plant at Little Island, Co Cork, on April 28th, 2008.

Father-of-one Liam Nodwell (58), from Glanmire on the outskirts of Cork city, was fatally injured and his workmate Jimmy O’Sullivan seriously injured in the chemical explosion, which happened in a process reactor on the 20-acre site.

Yesterday at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Patrick Moran said the death of Mr Nodwell and the injury to Mr O’Sullivan were aggravating factors, as were two previous convictions for breaches of health-and-safety legislation just a month before the explosion.

The court had previously heard that the fatal accident occurred when Mr Nodwell failed to add acetone to a mixing process, and a previous incident, on March 7th, 2008, occurred when acetone was similarly omitted from a mixing process, leading to an explosion.

Judge Moran noted Corden Pharma had previous experience of such an incident just over a month earlier, for which they were convicted and fined.

“I take the view that there is a high standard of care required of people involved in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals,” said Judge Moran, noting that pharmachem companies must be vigilant at all times.

He noted that Health and Safety Authority inspector Michael Boylan had said the accident could have been avoided if there had been an operator present to check the procedure was properly complied with or if electronic monitoring equipment had been fitted to ensure process instructions were followed.

Assessing the company’s ability to pay a fine, he noted that Corden Pharma was part of an international group with headquarters in Luxembourg and he believed the company was in a position to pay a financial penalty.

Corden had also received €15 million in an insurance payout for the accident and had used some of this to pay redundancy to staff laid off in the closure, while it had also put the site of the plant up for sale, with a valuation of €1 million-€1.5 million.

Noting two previous cases where people had died and where other companies were fined €200,000 for breaches of health-and-safety legislation, he imposed a fine of €300,000 and ordered Corden to pay €72,000 in costs to the State.

Afterwards the late Mr Nodwell’s sister, Sheila Linehan, said the fine meant nothing to the family. “Our loss will be never be replaced,” she said.

HSA assistant chief executive Sharon McGuinness said the incident was very serious and it highlighted the necessity of a comprehensive risk assessment being undertaken and appropriate precautions being put in place when dealing with chemicals.

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USA — An explosion that killed a worker at a Valero oil refinery in Memphis is the subject of a multimillion-dollar wrongful death and injury lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed by Richard Cuevas and Luis Santos, who were involved in the March 6 explosion. Cuevas also sued on behalf of his two brothers, one who died and another who remains hospitalized with burns over 70 percent of his body.

The Commercial Appeal reports (http://bit.ly/HLe3m4) the lawsuit claims severe and gross negligence. The suit alleges that there was a failure to ensure that there were no hazardous or flammable gases in a flare line and there was a failure to provide timely firefighting assistance.

The lawsuit also claims that the March 6 fire was the third one at the refinery in less than two years. It claims there was no automatic firefighting equipment in place.

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On this Workers’ Memorial Day 2012, I would like to take the opportunity to look back and remember those who have lost their lives and suffered serious injuries on the job this past year.

As chairperson of the independent federal agency whose mission is to investigate chemical accidents that continue to take too many lives, I have had the opportunity to meet the family and friends who have been impacted by these devastating tragedies. Meeting and speaking to people such as Chris Sherburne – a woman who sadly lost her husband in a horrible combustible metal dust fire at the Hoeganaes facility in Gallatin, Tennessee last year – brings me to an ever stronger commitment to my belief that that a safe workplace is a basic human right.