http://barentsobserver.com/en/energy/2013/03/gas-explosion-arctic-g...

Gas explosion at Arctic gas field

Eight people were injured in a gas explosion at the Bovanenkovo gas field in the Yamalo-Nenets region early this morning.

Bovanenkovo gas field will have an annual production of 75-115 billion cubic meters by 2015. (Photo: Gazprom.ru)

Eight people were injured in a gas explosion at the Bovanenkovo gas field in the Yamalo-Nenets region early this morning.

 

March 13, 2013

The accident happened when workers in a workshop for gas treatment were adjusting equipment. An uncontrolled blast of gas partly ruined the workshop and injured eight workers, Business TASS reports. An investigation group from Gazprom is on its way to the site.

Bovanenkovo  holds 4,9 trillion cubic meter of gas and is the biggest gas field in the Yamal Peninsula. The field is in its final stage of preparation before launch. According to Gazprom, the first startup complex of the field has entered the final stage of pre-commission work. At the same time, the first string of the Bovanenkovo-Ukhta pipeline, which will bring the gas towards western markets, is in the process of being completed. Only small parts of welding remains on the 1240 km long pipeline, and testing is in the progress, BarentsObserver reported earlier.

* Video Gallery - Tyler County Gas Explosion Videos [WBOY-TV; Posted: Apr 12, 2013 9:53 AM JST, Updated: Apr 13, 2013 7:23 AM JST]

UPDATE: Authorities Investigating Tyler County Explosion; 4 Injured

TYLER COUNTY, W.Va. -WTRF.com UPDATE:

Authorities are investigating the cause of an explosion at a gas well compression site in Tyler County Thursday night after four people suffered injuries.

According to the Tyler County Sheriff's Office, at about 7 p.m., Tyler County 911 received a call from a Eureka Hunter employee of an explosion with storage tanks on fire and at least two people injured at the Twin Hickories Road compression station near Wick, W.Va.

Fire and emergency responders were sent to the scene along with the Tyler County Sheriff Deputies. According to a press release, fire units from Shirley, Alma, Middlebourne, Sistersville as well as Saint Mary's from Pleasants County and Paden City from Wetzel County responded.

According to the release, three people were flown by helicopter to West Penn Burn Center in Pittsburgh. A fourth person was taken to Sistersville General Hospital.

The condition of the victims is unknown.

Stay with 7News and WTRF.com for updates on this developing story.

* 4 injured in explosion at gas compressor station in Tyler County [The Republic; 12 April 2013]

MIDDLEBOURNE, West Virginia — Tyler County officials say four people were injured in an explosion at a natural gas compressor station near Wick.

Emergency Management Director Tom Cooper tells The Intelligencer (http://bit.ly/12T4FUy ) that three workers were transported by medical helicopter to hospitals. The sheriff's department says a fourth person also was injured and taken to a hospital.

The explosion occurred Thursday night at the Twin Hickories compressor station. Such stations are placed along natural gas pipelines to help propel the gas through the lines.

The cause of the blast is unknown and remains under investigation.

http://rt.com/usa/texas-fertilizer-plant-explosion-036/

Multiple casualties in Texas fertilizer plant explosion (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Published time: April 18, 2013 01:32
Edited time: April 18, 2013 02:36

A massive explosion has rocked a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas. Rescue crews are on the scene as a number of injuries have been reported, according to local affiliate KWTX. Several buildings are thought to have been destroyed.

The explosion occurred around 7:50pm local time in the town of West, north of Waco. A fireball of nearly 100 feet high has been reported along with a massive power outage.

There were accounts of people trapped in a nearby nursing home, which had been damaged, and residents stranded in an adjacent apartment building. Initial reports indicated that at least five victims were in critical condition.

A large swath of West was “leveled” in the explosion, according to WFAA-TV Dallas reporter Jason Whitely.

Nine emergency helicopters were reported to be en route to the local high school. Emergency officials were also trying to evacuate a neighborhood near the site of the explosion. Hospital officials told CNN they were anticipating as many as 100 victims.

Police officers were witnessed transporting the injured in their squad cars.

At least 10 other buildings are on fire, including the town middle school, according to other media outlets. Every available ambulance had been dispatched while fire crews from neighboring areas have rushed to the scene.

An emergency responder requested help over local radio with a “major collapse” on a second floor where children were thought to be trapped.
 
Multiple commenters on RT’s story reported feeling the blast from their homes, which were located as much as dozens of miles from the fertilizer plant.

Update from yesterdays explosion. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/17/17800341-5-to-15-killed-...

5 to 15 killed, 160 wounded in 'devastating' Texas chemical plant blast

Waco Police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said Thursday that there has been looting in West, Texas, which was decimated by a fertilizer-plant explosion.

By M. Alex Johnson, John Newland and Tracy Connor, NBC News

Rescue crews were going door to door Thursday in the ruins of a small Texas town where a fertilizer-plant explosion killed at least 5 to 15 people, wounded more than 160 and destroyed dozens of home and businesses, including a nursing home.

"I don’t know how many folks may still be trapped in rubble," said Sgt. William Patrick Swanton, adding that police were also coping with looters in the area.

"Homes have been destroyed. There are homes flattened. Part of that community is gone."

Those still missing included three to five firefighters who were battling a blaze at the plant when it blew up just before 8 p.m. Wednesday, shaking the ground with the force of a magnitude-2.1 earthquake and unleashing a plume of smoke over the farming town of West.

 

 

"It just sucked you in and just threw you to the ground," resident Crystal Jerigan told TODAY, describing how she grabbed her two daughters out of a car and dove through the front door of their house.

There was no indication of criminal activity, although the area was being treated as a crime scene as a precautionary measure, said Swanton, who works for the police department in Waco, about 20 miles away from West.

"It was a huge explosion," he said. "It reached blocks, if not miles, in its devastating effect. ... My guess is going to be that ... we will see the casualty rate rise and the injury rate rise."

The blast decimated a five- to-six block radius around the plant, where two massive tanks held highly pressurized anhydrous ammonia. It wrecked about 50 to 75 homes in the area and a middle school. The walls were torn off an apartment complex.

"It's a lot of devastation. I've never seen anything like this," McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara told Reuters. "It looks like a war zone with all the debris."

At daybreak, the fire at the plant and several more at surrounding homes were smoldering. Rescue crews were hoping to find people alive in debris.

"Those guys and gals out there are in a heart- and gut-wrenching job and they’re doing the best they can," Swanton said.

Resident Sammy Chavez, who ran to the West Rest Haven nursing home despite being injured, told KXAS he found surreal scene.

“I just saw the explosion and then after that I took off running and then I saw the West home, and people you know were buried under the West home, the West home was gone,” Chavez said. “It was gone. The school’s gone. The apartments are gone. It’s horrible.”

Slideshow: Fertilizer plant explosion in Texas

Rod Aydelotte / AP

The huge blast rocked a small Texas town causing an unknown number of deaths and destroying nearby homes.

Launch slideshow

The blast could be felt for miles.

Derrick Hurtt was in his truck, recording the fire from about 300 yards, when the flames erupted with a blinding flash, followed by a towering pillar of smoke.

He caught the explosion on his camera, along with the panicked screams of his daughter Khloey, who begged him to drive away.

“I’m pretty sure it lifted the truck off the ground. It just blew me over on top of her,” Hurtt said on TODAY. “It all happened so quick that things kind of went black for a moment.”

 

“It was a pretty horrific scene, some of the injuries we saw,” he said.

Mayor Tommy Muska, who is also a firefighter, was heading to the plant to battle the blaze when it exploded.

"It blew my hat off, and then I heard it. I felt it before I heard it," Muska said. "It was a very powerful explosion."

There are only about 2,700 residents in West, many of whom were taken to shelters.

Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco said it treated 101 patients and admitted 28. Five of them were in the intensive care unit, two in critical condition. Emergency room Dr. Bradford Holland said injuries included skull and leg fractures and large cuts.

Providence Hospital in Waco said it had received 65 patients, many with abrasions and broken bones and some in respiratory distress, apparently because of chemical or smoke inhalation.

It is the “most devastating thing that’s happened to this community,” Muska said at a news conference. "We need your prayers."

Mariah Garcia/photo via NBCDFW.com

Smoke rises from the scene of a fertilizer plant explosion near Waco, Texas, on Wednesday, April 17..

"There’s a lot of people that are hurt. And there’s a lot of people that I’m sure are not going to be here tomorrow. ... It is a cut across our hearts."

The cause of the fire and explosion were unknown. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was leading the investigation.

"Nothing at this point indicates that we have had criminal activity," Swanton said.

In a safety report on file with the Environmental Protection Agency, the West Fertilizer Co. said that there was no risk of fire or explosion from the ammonia stored near a residential neighborhood and a school, the Dallas Morning News reported. The main hazard was an accidental release of the gas, the report said.

Initial fears about dangerous fumes from the fire were allayed by about 6 a.m. ET., with Swanton saying "air quality at this point is not an issue."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement that state resources were being made available to local authorities.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of West, and the first responders on the scene," he said.

A White House official said the Obama administration was aware of the situation and monitoring local and state response through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

NBC News’ Matthew DeLuca and Reuters contributed to this story.

Satellite view showing location of West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Three-killed-in-Mos...

Three killed in Moscow building gas blast

IANS | Apr 20, 2013, 01.28 PM IST

MOSCOW: Three people were killed and four others injured in a gas explosion and fire in a high-rise building in Moscow, the emergencies services said on Saturday. Three apartments were damaged following a gas explosion in an apartment on the building's sixth floor Friday evening. The blast caused fire, and the blaze was extinguished early on Saturday. A total of 120 emergencies ministry officers and 17 units of special machinery were working on the site. The residents of the building in Shirokaya Street were evacuated and temporarily accommodated in a nearby school.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/04/20/299383/china-mine-blast-kil...

Thank you Starr DiGiacomo.

Google-Map of Wyoming Natural Gas Blast

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2315250/Escape-fireball-Wat...

Escape from a fireball: Watch a passerby run for his life as pavement EXPLODES after gas blast on London street

• Blast shakes buildings and leaves a gaping hole in the ground
• Footage shows bystander running for his life as flames shoot up
• Caused by suspected fault with underground electricity cables
  

By Simon Tomlinson

PUBLISHED: 13:54 GMT, 26 April 2013 | UPDATED: 16:47 GMT, 26 April 2013

This is the dramatic moment a huge fireball bursts from a pavement, narrowly missing a passerby standing just yards from the blast.

The explosion in Pimlico Road in central London was said to have shaken nearby buildings and left a gaping crater at the side of the road.

Video footage shows one astonished bystander running from the scene as flames shot from the ground.

Eruption: Video footage shows the moment a fireball bursts out of the pavement, just yards from a pedestrian

Blast off: The ball of flame explodes out of the ground, sending a plume of smoke rising into the air

https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.toled...

 

 

 

 

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Two dead after suspected gas explosion causes building to collapse in northern France

• 100 rescue workers, firefighters and bomb and gas experts deployed 
  
• Building in subsidised housing complex was renovated several years ago
  
• Photographer at the scene told victims were still trapped under the rubble
• Local authorities said 'probable' cause was a gas explosion

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 14:39 GMT, 28 April 2013 | UPDATED: 15:08 GMT, 28 April 2013

Two people are dead and at least nine others have been injured after an explosion, believed to have been caused by a gas leak, caused a building to partly collapse in the French city of Reims.

More than 100 rescue workers, firefighters and bomb and gas experts were deployed to the building in the subsidised housing complex that collapsed on Sunday morning in the city in the Champagne area east of Paris.

Reims mayor Adeline Hazan told France's BFM television that 'a very powerful explosion' had taken place but the cause was unclear.

Aftermath: Two people have been killed and at least nine others injured after an explosion caused part of a building to collapse in Reims, France

http://rt.com/usa/explosion-refinery-detroit-tanker-520/

Massive explosion rocks Marathon Detroit Refinery

A tank containing diesel fuel has exploded during maintenance work at Marathon Detroit Refinery, forcing a mandatory evacuation order for a nearby area. One employee has been injured in the blast, authorities said.

Reports of the explosion and fire came in just before 6 pm local time.

Authorities on the ground say the explosion injured an employee. The incident occurred during a maintenance check.

Marathon spokesman Shane Pochard tells the Detroit Free Press the small fire Wednesday morning was extinguished quickly and the worker had minor injuries.

Image from facebook.com

The adjacent city of Melvindale however ordered a partial evacuation due to concerns over air quality from the fire rise. State police also closed ramps from I-75 to Schaefer in both directions.

“Police have blocked Fort Street off by I-75 south … oh my goodness … there’s an ambulance out here, a fireman standing outside, you know, it doesn’t look like they are trying to get close. They are not trying to go in there,” one listener told the local radio station.

A witness, Dan Taylor told the Detroit News that “I saw the fire ball. The whole top of the tank was on fire and you could see it melted.”

The fire erupted in one of the refinery’s smaller tanks, Pochard told the Detroit Free Press.

Marathon’s own fire crew were battling the flames, along with first responders from Detroit and surrounding areas. At least two trucks at the scene were streaming water and two trucks were streaming foam.

A HazMat team from the Detroit Fire Department and Senior Fire Chief Carl Smith were at the scene as well. The fire was extinguished just before 8 pm local time.

About 300 Marathon employees and additional 300-400 contractors work at the refinery, Peter Brokas, the head of security told the Detroit Free Press.

http://newsfixnow.com/2013/05/03/oil-tank-explosion-forces-evacuati...

Oil tank explosion forces evacuations near Baton Rouge

http://www.toledoblade.com/Police-Fire/2013/05/03/1-injured-after-E...

1 injured after East Toledo natural gas explosion

An unidentified Columbia Gas of Ohio employee was being treated today at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center for burns to his face after natural gas from an underground pipeline caught fire and flared up at him about 11:45 a.m.

The accident occurred in the 800 block of Utah Street, an East Toledo residential neighborhood.

Columbia Gas has no reason to believe the worker veered from normal safety procedures the utility has established for when repairs are made to underground pipelines.

"It's very rare, but it happens sometimes," Chris Kozak, Columbia Gas spokesman, said, noting that pipeline repairs are a risky business under the best of circumstances.

A couple of nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution, but residents were allowed back inside once Toledo firefighters and Columbia Gas officials had the scene secured.

The employee is part of a crew that was making repairs to an old, 4-inch-wide pipeline that had developed a small leak. He was in a hole where the pipeline is located, about four feet deep, Mr. Kozak said.

The utility spokesman described the injury as "serious, but not life threatening." Two police officers said the man was able to walk to the ambulance on his own power, holding his face.

Mr. Kozak said he was not sure if Columbia Gas would be releasing the man's name.

The event was described by Mr. Kozak as a flare-up, not an explosion. Officials aren't sure what sparked it, he said.

More may be known once fire water is pumped out of the hole, Mr. Kozak said.

Officials have described the injuries as second-degree burns

http://wqad.com/2013/05/06/seven-narrowly-escape-moline-fire/

Seven People Narrowly Escape Moline Fire

Posted on: 7:13 am, May 6, 2013, by Jonathan Ketz, updated on: 07:40am, May 6, 2013

http://www.foundry-planet.com/index.php?id=110&tx_ttnews[year]=2013&tx_ttnews[month]=05&tx_ttnews[day]=06&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=12952&cHash=ca809bbe9f25ed9cef1a8a1395739909

06.05.2013

Illinois - Foundry Explosion Injures At Least 10 Workers

An explosion in an Illinois steel castings plant injured at least 10 workers.

The explosion occurred at the American Steel Foundries plant located in Granite City, Illinois, which is northeast of St. Louis. Three workers, who were in critical condition, were transported by helicopter to hospitals for treatment, including Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur, Missouri, while seven others were treated at Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City for smoke inhalation and later released.

“Industrial accidents of this nature are all too common,” said Robert Briskman, a Chicago work injury attorney. “Workers who are injured on the job need to be aware that they have legal rights.”

Approximately 800 people are employed at the plant, which manufactures undercarriages for railcars and related items. The blast occurred close to a grinding machine in the finishing department.

Federal officials are investigating the cause of the explosion. Robert Lott, president of Local 1063 of the United Steelworkers and a worker at the plant, told the Belleville News-Democrat that he believed a gas leak was the cause of the blast. Lott said he was working about 100 yards away from the explosion and could see flames. According to Lott, two of the injured workers may have suffered internal injuries and broken legs.

Mike Right, chief of health and safety for the United Steelworkers, said that the union was sending its own investigator to the plant to investigate the cause of the explosion. With 860,294 members, United Steelworkers is the largest industrial union in North America.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2,200 workers were non-fatally injured by fires or explosions in 2011. There were 143 workplace deaths caused by fires or explosions in 2011, three percent of the total workplace fatalities. Twenty-nine of those deaths were in the manufacturing industry. This was a decrease from the previous year, which saw 191 workplace deaths caused by fires or explosions, 33 of them in the manufacturing industry.

American Steel Foundries is the largest manufacturer of steel castings in the United States. The company was formed in 1902 in a merger of eight different foundries, including the Granite City-based American Steel Foundry Company

Suspected gas explosion in Stevenage town centre [Comet24; 17 May 2013]

AN INVESTIGATION is underway to determine the cause of a suspected gas explosion.

The blast occurred at approximately 1:30am this morning in Stevenage town centre. Police were quick to arrive and section off the area.

Joe Davies, 19, witnessed the explosion whilst walking home from the train station. Mr Davies said: “It completely took me by surprise. The pavement seemed to burst apart and a flame about five feet high blew right in front of me.”

UK Power Networks completed repair work on the site at 7:30am and the area has been sectioned off temporarily.

Police sectioned off the area in the early hours of this morning

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-22591002

Man killed and four injured in Newark house blast

An eyewitness describes how the building exploded as he was walking past with his family

Rescuers searching the remains of a house in Nottinghamshire that was destroyed in an explosion have found the body of man.

Four other people - a man, a woman and two children - were taken to hospital after the blast had reduced the house in Wright Street, Newark, to rubble.

The search for a missing sixth person who may still be inside will resume when the property is made safe.

Gas has been blamed for Sunday's blast, which happened at about 17:10 BST.

The dead man and the injured have not yet been named, while around 100 people living nearby were forced to leave their homes in the aftermath of the explosion.

Some of them are spending the night at the nearby Grove Leisure Centre.

Newborn baby

Police said the woman and two children were treated for the effects of breathing in smoke and subsequently discharged from Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre.

The man was taken to hospital with serious injuries and smoke inhalation and is still being treated.

Cormac Fleming, from Newark, witnessed the blast and helped with the rescue effort, plucking a newborn baby from the neighbour's damaged house.

"I live just a couple of streets away and was first on the scene, with my wife and two kids. We were walking our dog and got within 8ft of the house, when it exploded right in front of us," he said.

"The sheer force of the blast knocked my son off his bike. I rang 999 straight away.

"One house was completely destroyed and the house next to it was half-blown up.

"I then noticed a curtain moving in the house next door. I, and another man, smashed the window and next thing I was being handed a newborn baby."

He said a five-year-old and his mother, who was cut and in shock, followed the baby out.

Neighbours in Newark have been told to stay in doors and keep windows closed

They were led away from the rubble before Mr Fleming and the man returned to the house to try and help.

"We tried to see if anyone was in it from the back but it soon caught fire, so we pulled back and waited for the fire service to arrive."

'Like a bomb'

Isla McDonald, who lives opposite the damaged house, said: "We saw this smoke. A man was crawling through the debris and he was bleeding. The whole house had come down.

"We got him out and carried him up the path away from the smoke. The whole of the house was on fire this side. It was so frightening.

"We put something on his head, he said 'My wife's upstairs and my granddad is in the cellar'," she added.

Eduart Pergjejji also helped pull the man out of the rubble.

"The whole house was all down. It was insane," he said. "I've never seen anything like it. It's all down, the bricks have fallen on the street.

Police officers wearing face masks were helping the fire service crews

"It was really like a huge bomb exploding."

A visibly shaking Jane Henson said the house has been completely destroyed. She was the first to call 999 and provided the operator with a running commentary.

She said: "I felt the house shake. I looked out of the window and there was thick, black smoke.

"There were just people running everywhere shouting 'There's a bomb gone off' and just panic. It's awful, terrible."

Pirita Suomela, who lives nearby and was on the scene within minutes, said: "From where I was standing it looked like complete destruction."

She said she heard a loud bang and went outside to see "huge clouds of smoke coming up behind the trees".

A man was lying disorientated in the street with blood on his face.

"Within a minute of this I saw what can only be described as a tornado of smoke rising up with violent flames blasting a long way over the footpath, immediately in front of the house," she added.

A police spokesman advised residents to stay indoors and keep windows closed to reduce the effects of dust and any gas fumes.

Police asked around 100 people to leave their homes while alternative accommodation was offered to those who could not go to family and friends following the blast.

Pipeline explosion halts gas supplies to southern China: Xinhua [The Times of India; 26 May 2013]

BEIJING: A section of a cross-country gas pipeline in China exploded on Sunday, injuring at least two people and halting gas supplies, local media said.

The second west-east natural gas pipeline, which transports gas from central Asia to south China, exploded in an industrial zone in China's southeastern province of Jiangxi, state news agency Xinhua said.

The pipeline has a capacity to transport 30 billion cubic metres of gas a year.

Energy released from the explosion knocked over people hundreds of metres away, Xinhua said, without detailing the length of the exploded pipeline. The government is investigating the cause of the explosion, the agency said.

China, the world's largest energy consumer, has two cross-country gas pipelines that carry gas imports across the nation. It is building a third.

The government wants to secure around 30 percent of China's natural gas consumption from imports, up from just 6 percent in 2007.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2332616/Suspected-gas-explo...

Suspected gas explosion destroys terrace house and damages adjoining properties

• One man taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries in Tinsley, Sheffield
• Police say the gas explosion is the 'likely cause'
  

By Rob Cooper

PUBLISHED: 10:43 GMT, 29 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:51 GMT, 29 May 2013

A terraced home has been destroyed and two neighbouring properties have been badly damaged following a suspected gas explosion.

Emergency services were at the scene in Tinsley, Sheffield, this morning following the blast.

One man has been taken to hospital with minor injuries but no one is believed to have been seriously hurt.

Wreckage: The burns this morning after the explosion completely destroyed the home in Sheffield

Dramatic pictures show the £50,000 mid-terraced property has fallen down completely following the blast.

Police cordoned off a number of surrounding roads following the blast this morning as the emergency services worked at the scene.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: 'Officers at the scene are waiting for the area to be made safe to enable them to progress the investigation, but initial reports suggest that a gas explosion is the likely cause.

'One property has been destroyed, and significant damage caused to the adjoining properties. Residents have been evacuated, and at this stage no serious injuries have been reported.

'One man was taken to hospital with suspected minor injuries.'

The spokesman added that all residents had been accounted for.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Tweeted: '150m cordon is in place at the Tinsley explosion & neighbouring properties have been evacuated. A house has been destroyed & 2 badly damaged.'

Blaze at locked Chinese poultry slaughterhouse kills 119: state media [Reuters; 3 June 2013]

(Reuters) - A blaze at a locked poultry slaughterhouse in northeast China killed at least 119 people on Monday with several still unaccounted for, officials and state media said, triggering online outrage in a country with a grim record on fire safety.

The fire broke out just after dawn near Dehui in Jilin province. The provincial government said it sent more than 500 firefighters and more than 270 doctors and nurses to the scene, evacuating 3,000 nearby residents as a precaution.

China Central Television showed thick black smoke pouring from a low-slung, one-storey building with an arched roof over part of it.

Flames shot through some rooftop vents, and firefighters on the ground and on high ladders poured water onto the roof and onto smoldering debris inside the building.

CCTV showed a backhoe punching through a wall so firefighters could aim more water inside.

"It was so fast - we first saw a flash, then there was a big 'bang'," an unidentified employee of the slaughterhouse told CCTV. "We knew it was bad, so then we all ran. We didn't know what happened, we didn't know it was an explosion."

The death toll prompted President Xi Jinping, on a visit to Latin America and the United States, to issue instructions to care for the injured and vigorously investigate the cause of the disaster, holding accountable according to law all found to be responsible, the television reported.

Premier Li Keqiang called on firefighters and other emergency workers to proceed urgently to save lives as the top priority, CCTV said.

Local police said ammonia gas leaks might have caused the explosions, prompting the evacuation of residents, the China News Service reported.

More than 300 workers were in the plant at the time, with employees reporting hearing the bang and then seeing smoke, state news agency Xinhua said.

"About 100 workers have managed to escape from the plant whose gate was locked when the fire occurred," Xinhua said.

"The complicated interior structure of the prefabricated house in which the fire broke out and the narrow exits have added difficulties to the rescue work."

The exact number of people missing was unclear, as was the cause of the fire, Xinhua said. The Jilin government said 60 people were injured and had been rushed to hospital.

People took to social media sites to express their anger.

"Was this place never regularly inspected by fire safety authorities?" wrote one user on China's popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo.

"Senior officials need to be sacked because of this," wrote another.

RELATIVES OF VICTIMS DEMAND EXPLANATION

Victims' relatives gathered outside the building to "demand the government investigate and announce the cause of the accident as soon as possible", Xinhua said.

Hong Kong's Phoenix Television cited family members as saying that the doors were always kept locked during working hours during which workers were forbidden to leave and that the slaughterhouse never carried out fire drills.

China's record is poor. Fire exits in factories are often locked or blocked and regulations can be easily skirted by bribing corrupt officials.

Jilin is a largely agricultural province and an important grower of corn and soy beans.

The slaughterhouse is owned by a small local feed and poultry producer called Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Company, according to the government.

A fire at a nightclub in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong, killed 44 people in 2008. A senior policeman was jailed for taking bribes to allow the unlicensed venue to remain open.

One of modern China's worst fire disasters occurred in late 2000, when fire engulfed building workers at a discotheque in a mall in the central city of Luoyang, killing 309.

Many of China's deadly industrial accidents happen in the huge coal mining industry, in which more than 1,300 people died last year from explosions, mine cave-ins and floods.

(Additional reporting by Terril Yue Jones; Editing by Ron Popeski)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following is a reference map about the accident from the view of the plate movements.

House explosion in Pa. knocks out walls, bricks

Updated 2:11 pm, Friday, June 7, 2013

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/House-explosion-in-Pa-knocks-...

http://www.14news.com/story/22554711/explosion-erupts-at-huntingbur...

Explosion destroys Huntingburg gas storage facility

Posted: Jun 10, 2013 9:30 PM CDT Updated: Jun 10, 2013 9:43 PM CDT

DUBOIS CO., IN (WFIE) -

A dehydration facility at the Huntingburg gas storage field has been destroyed by an explosion. 

The facility that is located southwest of the city along South County Road 500 West, was destroyed on Monday in the explosion that happened around 6:50 p.m. EST. 

Officials say the building was completely engulfed in flames when the Holland Volunteer Fire Department arrived. Huntingburg utility crews arrived on the scene and shut off the lines feeding the facility, which reduced the flames and allowed firefighters to control the blaze.

Officials say no one was injured in the explosion. 

Gas service to Huntingburg gas customers was not affected, but local customers near the facility were without service for a short time. Service has been restored.

Officials tell us the gas storage field has been capped and is secure.

The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined. The state fire marshal will be on the scene to investigate Tuesday morning.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Report-Two-...

Natural gas line explosion in Colorado, multiple homes destroyed

https://twitter.com/corybe/status/345249684362784768/photo/1

http://rt.com/usa/westminster-colorado-house-explosion-663/

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/14/18963584-one-person-kill...

One person killed in second plant incident in two days in Louisiana parish

WVLA-TV

The CF Industries plant in Donaldsonville,  La., is just 30 miles south of Geismar, where a chemical plant explosion killed two people Thursday, June 13.

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

A container ruptured at a Louisiana nitrogen plant Friday night, killing one person and injuring at least seven others, the company said — just a day after an explosion at a chemical plant killed two people in the same parish.

Louisiana State Police told NBC News that three of the injured were in critical condition.

The plant's owner, CF Industries of Deerfield, Ill., said the incident occurred about 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) at its facility in Donaldsonville, roughly halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. "There was no fire or chemical release nor is there any threat or hazard posed to the community," it said.

Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley and plant manager Lou Frey said at a news conference Friday night that the rupture — which initially was reported as an explosion — was caused by workers who overpressurized a nitrogen vessel they were filling from a truck at CF Industries in Donaldsonville.

"There was no explosion, no fire," Frey said.

Wiley said it was "like a balloon popping."

Federal records show that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined CF Industries, one of the world's biggest nitrogen fertilizer producers, about $150,000 for safety and health violations after a fire and explosion killed three people at the Donaldsonville plant in 2000. It cited 12 violations posing "substantial probability" of serious injury or death. 

The blast Friday occurred just a day after an explosion and fire at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, just 30 miles north of Donaldsonville, killed two people and injured more than 70 others. State Police confirmed the second death Friday.

"The irony of back-to-back incidents has not escaped us," Wiley, said. "We express our sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and injured."

Azhar Fateh of NBC News contributed to this report.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/15/plains-midstream-pipeline_n...

Plains Midstream Spill: Company Responds To Natural Gas Pipeline Leak

MANNING, Alta. - A pipeline company is dealing with a new spill in Alberta.

Plains Midstream Canada says it is responding to a leak on its Kemp natural gas pipeline system approximately 90 kilometres northwest of Manning, Alberta.

The company says the leak involves condensate, a liquid obtained by condensation of a gas or vapor.

The company says the system is 79 kilometres long and transports condensate and other natural gas liquids, which it says are a byproduct of processed natural gas.

Plains Midstream says it doesn't know yet how much condensate escaped or what caused it, but it says the line has been shut down.

Earlier this month, provincial regulators estimate nearly 10 million litres of waste water containing salt, oil and other minerals spilled from Apache Canada Limited's pipeline near Zama City.

Greenpeace Canada spokesperson Mike Hudema says spills are happening too often and that the government is failing to protect the environment and communities.

http://www.examiner.com/article/postville-explosion-injures-3-and-s...

• JUNE 17, 2013

A Postville, Iowa explosion early Monday morning at the Norplex Laminates manufacturing plant in the 600 block of Lybrand Street shocked residents and caused up to $7 million in damage,

The Postville explosion at the Norplex-Micarta laminate manufacturing plant was reported at 1:20 a.m. on Monday and injured three workers, one seriously. The critically injured worker was standing near a machine that exploded and was airlifted to the burn unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. Another injured worker was treated and released from a local hospital, and a third injured worker refused treatment.

The building's sprinkler system was activated and helped to keep the fire from spreading. However, blue smoke was reportedly rushing out of the facility when firefighters arrived. Building personnel also shut off gas valves and boilers to help keep the fire under control. Said Chris Dahlstrom, the Allamakee County emergency management coordinator, "The building is specially made so that if something falters, [the fire] will go up through the roof."

The Postville explosion is the latest in a series of explosions around the country within a week. Last week, a gas leak in Westminster, Colo. injured two and damaged homes, and an explosion at Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, La. killed one and injured 60 people. A few days ago, another blast at a nitrogen plant in Donaldsonville, La. killed one and injured seven. The Norplex-Micarta explosion caused up to $7 million in damage to the plant, and the cause is still under investigation.

In a statement, plant manager Alan Johnson said that "prayers are with our employees and their families". He also added that the company is still waiting on an update on the condition of the most seriously injured worker.

http://www.london24.com/news/number_of_underground_explosions_on_lo...

Number of underground explosions on London streets triples

Monday, June 17, 2013 
7:45 PM

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/deadly-exploding-pavements-pose-new-threa...

Deadly exploding pavements pose new threat to Londoners

More perils in Louisiana.

http://www.gobogalusa.com/news/article_66f9e304-d81e-11e2-a916-001a...

Gas line explosion near Enon

Posted: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 12:33 pm | Updated: 12:34 pm, Tue Jun 18, 2013.

0 comments

http://english.cri.cn/6909/2013/06/20/2941s771119.htm

http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/transport/?doc=76579

Explosion kills one, injures two in BLRT plant in Tallinn

A strong explosion killed one and injured two people in the Elme Messer Gaas production unit of Baltic ship-repairs plant BLRT in Tallinn on Wednesday; there was no danger to the environment, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

According to the rescue board, the call came in at 1.02 p.m. that there was a gas explosion in the production unit, as the result of which the roof of the stone production building collapsed and there was also a fire.

 

Two workers who were in the building received strong burns and concussions while a person outside the building was killed by debris of the explosion.

 

BLRT spokeswoman Katja Ljubobratets said that there is acetylene production unit in the building. She said that a half an hour after the explosion all dangers were localised and there is no danger to the environment.

http://www.beritajakarta.com/2008/en/newsview.aspx?idwil=0&id=2...

A Boiler Tube Exploded, 5 Injured

BERITAJAKARTA.COM — 20/06/2013 15:19:34

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-06-23/gas-explosion-jarrow/

Six injured in gas explosion

Six people were hurt in a gas explosion at a house in Jarrow, South Tyneside, a senior fire officer said today.

Investigation continue into gas explosion

Gas explosion in South Tyneside

Two people have been injured in a gas explosion in Jarrow, South Tyneside.

It happened at 7.54 am on Sunday, June 23, at a house in Regent Road.

Nearby houses in the cul-de-sac have been evacuated as a precaution.

http://westchester.news12.com/news/sleepy-hollow-man-recovering-aft...

Sleepy Hollow man recovering after manhole explodes while driving over it

Published: June 24, 2013 5:37 PM

Police say the manhole had a sewer gas backup and exploded just as the man's black Volvo was rolling over it. (June 24, 2013)

SLEEPY HOLLOW - A Sleepy Hollow man is recovering at home tonight after driving over an exploding manhole.

The incident occurred along Broadway just after 1:30 p.m. Police say the manhole had a sewer gas backup and exploded just as the man's black Volvo was rolling over it.

Witnesses say the explosion caused the manhole cover to hit the car's windshield. The cover landed 25 feet away. Witnesses also say the car spun around 360 degrees before coming to a stop.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-23062172

26 June 2013 Last updated at 05:58 ET

Barrow gas explosion: One woman hurt in Ainslie Street blast

A structural assessment of the property is being carried out

A woman has been injured after an explosion, believed to have been caused by a gas leak, partially demolished a house in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria.

The kitchen of the house in Ainslie Street was demolished in the blast on Wednesday morning, which also caused a small fire.

The woman was treated at the scene for minor injuries, Cumbria Police said.

Neighbouring properties were evacuated and police said a structural assessment of the house was being carried out.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is leading the investigation into the blast, which is thought to be linked to a recently installed cooker.

The force spokesman said Ainslie Street would remain closed for most of the day.

He added: "A wall of the property collapsed. It is believed that a gas leak led to an isolated explosion at the property.

"The occupant of the house is safe and well and has been seen by paramedics at the scene for minor injuries."

A spokesman for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service added: "The kitchen of the property is demolished and there was one small fire which was put out.

"All residents are accounted for."

http://articles.mcall.com/2013-06-28/news/mc-f-voltaix-portland-exp...

Voltaix officials advised firefighters that water should not be sprayed on the fire in its waste tanks; the fire should be allowed to burn out on its own.

Just before midnight, Northampton County Emergency Management Services said area residents were safe, but they should follow local news reports for up-to-date information on the Voltaix fire.

"There is no immediate danger to the public at this time," the emergency agency said. "Haz-mat officials do not anticipate an evacuation for the immediate area. Residents in the immediate area are being advised to stay tuned to their local media outlets as the situation unfolds."

Emergency officials evacuated the main Voltaix building, but no one else was asked to move out during the emergency. There are no homes in the area of the plant.

Ambulances were dispatched to the scene to be ready for potential problems.

The Voltaix plant is on the Portland-Upper Mount Bethel border, about 1,000 feet west of the Delaware River. Columbia, N.J., is about 2,000 feet to the east of the plant.

We jump from the UK to Albany, NY with more erxploding manholes

http://troyrecord.com/articles/2013/06/29/news/doc51ce8e4a8f4660893...

Published: Saturday, June 29, 2013

ALBANY — County Executive Dan McCoy wants answers as to why manhole covers continue to pop up along the capital city’s streets. 

During a Friday press conference in which he discussed the public safety issue, McCoy also called for an investigation into the matter, citing a previous manhole cover incident which caused some damage to the Olde English Pub on Broadway.

“We need to be proactive,” McCoy said in a phone interview. “It’s a matter of time before someone gets hurt. I’m calling for an investigation by the [New York State] Public Service Commission and the division of Consumer Protection. I’m asking for a hearing and want to bring everyone together to make sure this problem is solved.”

McCoy said that while he understands that some of the city’s infrastructure is more than 100 years old, it needs to be updated for the sake of public safety.

He even pointed a finger at National Grid, which manages the utilities in the city, asking it to invest its profits to improve public safety.

But Patrick Stella, a spokesman for National Grid, said that safety has always been the company’s number one priority, adding each manhole is inspected every five years. He also said National Grid has spent more than $1.6 million in replacing 7,500 feet of underground cable.

“Given the incidents we have seen in the last six to seven months, we have added an extra crew to inspect cables in the city and are replacing cables as we go through the inspection.”

Stella said National Grid has plans within the next year to replace 15,000 feet of cables in the city.

Not long after McCoy’s 11:30 a.m. press conference, the manhole cover on North Pearl Street which popped up on Thursday, did so again. Stella said that repairs being performed on a nearby cable caused both incidents.

With regards to other manhole covers which have popped up around the city during the past few months, Stella explained that when cables short, some smoldering occurs around the insulation, which causes gases to build up underground with nowhere to go. Continued...

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/eight-injured-in-w...

http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-gas-explosion-siberia/25040064....

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Manhole-Explosions-Upper-West-...

Manhole explosions on the Upper West Side have cut power to several buildings, officials say. 

Four manholes exploded in the area of 72nd Street and Riverside Drive, causing some buildings to lose power, according to Con Edison.

The utility company expects the power to return at some point Wednesday night. It is investigating what caused the underground explosions.

Gas explosion AND collapse

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Chinatown-Fire-Explosion-Henry...

8 Hurt in Manhattan Fire, Explosion and Partial Collapse

Eight people were hurt after an explosion rocked a commercial space on the first floor of a Chinatown building and sent flames into the apartments on its upper floors, authorities said.

Three of the injuries were described as serious and five were not life-threatening.

A law enforcement official says the explosion in the five-story building on Pike Street, near Henry Street, in New York possibly came from a faulty severed gas line in the basement.

FDNY said there was also a partial collapse of the rear first floor, which is shared by a bus company and a beauty parlor.

The people most seriously injured were in homes on the second and third floors.

Smoke could be seen billowing from the neighborhood after the blast.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/5011509/Several-injured-in-Kil...

Several injured in Killarney explosion

FIRE fighters will shortly begin sifting brick by brick through debris at the scene of a devastating explosion to try and find a missing man.

It is feared that the owner of a laundrette was buried under tons of rubble in the explosion shortly after 6am.

The blast happened in a Launderette at Brewery Lane, Killarney and Gardaí believe it was as a result of gas explosion.

The town of Killarney was shook by the monster eruption and windows along Plunkett Street were smashed.

Rubble filled Brewery Lane as rescue workers began the grim task of removing the tangled brick work of the now demolished launderette.

image from this link:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/concerns-grow-for-man-missing-...

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/ria-novosti-one-dead...

RIA Novosti: One dead, three injured in Ukrainian coalmine blast

Blaze erupts on Gulf of Mexico rig after natural gas blowout

BSEE via EPA

A handout photo released by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) shows gas spewing from the Hercules 265 gas rig on Tuesday.

By Christopher Nelson and Henry Austin, NBC News

A fire erupted on drilling rig off the Louisiana coast that was surrounded by a “major cloud of gas” after it experienced a blowout, officials said late Tuesday.

The blaze began about 10:50 p.m. local time (11:50 p.m. ET) on the Hercules 265 natural gas platform, which is located around 55 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

Eileen Angelico, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said no one was on board when the fire started. The cause of the blaze was unknown early Wednesday.

She added that personnel from Wild Well Inc had been brought in to try and get the well under control, but when they’d approached the blaze Tuesday night they’d determined it was unsafe to get any closer when they were 200ft away from it. 

The BSSE also said that a specialist boat, with both water and foam firefighting abilities, had been dispatched to tackle the blaze.

Earlier on Tuesday, 44 workers were evacuated on two lifeboats after the gas began spewing to the surface. None of them were injured, NBC station WDSU reported.

A Coast Guard cutter and two aircraft were sent to assess the situation and BSEE inspectors reported that a cloud of natural gas had formed over the well.

“A light sheen could be seen on the water one-half mile by 50 feet,” the BSEE said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that the sheen appeared to be quickly dissipating.  

The portable drilling rig known as a jackup rig, was operated by Hercules Offshore. In a news release, Hercules Offshore said that they were working for Houston-based Walter Oil & Gas Corp.

Walter Oil & Gas reported to the BSEE that the rig was completing a "sidetrack well" — a means of re-entering the original well bore, Angelico said.

Sidetrack wells are sometimes drilled to remedy a problem with the existing well bore.

"It's a way to overcome an engineering problem with the original well," Ken Medlock, an energy expert at Rice University's Baker Institute told the Associated Press. "They're not drilled all the time, but it's not new."

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 workers and eventually spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/24/19652537-blaze-erupts-on...

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/29/19756387-explosion-level...

Explosion levels Philadelphia row house; infant among six injured

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/30/19763731-at-least-seven-...

At least seven injured, three critically, after blasts rock Florida propane plant

Tyler Mackenzie Photography

A series of explosions engulfed a propane plant in flames in Tavares, Florida, late Monday. This photo was taken at 11.36 p.m. from a location between 1-2 miles from the blast.

By M. Alex Johnson, Staff Writer, NBC News

A series of explosions engulfed a propane plant in flames in Tavares, Fla., late Monday, injuring at least seven people — three of them critically — and forcing evacuations for a half-mile around the scene, authorities said.

The explosions began as a fire spread through the Blue Rhino plant in Lake County, near Orlando, about 10:30 p.m. ET, Lake County sheriff's Lt. John Herrell told reporters early Tuesday. Seven people were taken to hospitals, two by helicopter, he said. All of them were in the plant when the fire started.

Watch live coverage on WESH-TV

Residents of the area told NBC station WESH of Orlando that flames from the explosions could be seen for several miles, but there were no reports of damage to the surrounding buildings.  

WESH-TV

Flames from the Blue Rhino propane plant in Tavares, Fla., seen from the air Monday night.

"It sounds like bombs are going off," Norma Haygood, a nearby resident, told WESH.

No deaths were immediately reported, Herrell said. Three male victims were in critical condition, the Orlando Regional Medical Center, told NBC News. 

Two were airlifted, while a third was still being transported by ambulance at 3:00 a.m ET.  

Authorities initially declared a one-mile evacuation zone around the plant, but they later scaled that back to a half-mile, effective until 6 a.m. ET. 

"We feel that there is no longer any danger" to the area around the plant, Herrell said.

Twenty-four or 26 people were scheduled to work the night shift at the 33,000-acre facility, according to plant managers, Herrell said. Authorities initially said 15 people were unaccounted for, but Herrell later said the company's management said that they had accounted for all of the people it knew were in the plant at the time of the initial explosion.

NBC News/Bing Maps

Some of them showed up at others location, according to Blue Rhino, Herrell said. He said he had no further information on where the others were.

The plant housed about 53,000 20-pound propane cylinders, Herrell said.

"They store the propane cylinders on different parts of the property, and as the fire spread, there were more and more explosions," he said. 

Explosions continued but were diminishing at 1 a.m. ET Tuesday, 2½ hours after the first blasts were reported.

Don Ingram, former plant production supervisor at the plant, said his son felt one of the explosions in their home 6 miles away.

Ingram told WESH that the back area of the plant is "lined with propane tanks stacked four or five high on plastic pallets."

 "I don't think you fight this fire," he said. "It's just too dangerous."

Blue Rhino is a subsidiary of Ferrellgas Partners, the second-largest distributor of propane in the U.S.

Azhar Fateh of NBC News contributed to this report.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/10590452.60_evacuated_after_B...

60 evacuated after Berwick house explosion

7:22pm Friday 2nd August 2013 in News

POLICE have evacuated 60 people after an explosion at a house in Berwick.

Northumbria Police say at 5.49pm today (Friday), officers received a report of an explosion at the property in Howick Terrace.

"Police and fire services are at the scene and a number of houses in Howick Terrace have been evacuated as a precaution," said a spokesman.

"Around 60 people have been taken to a rest centre set up by the local authority.

"It is not believed that anyone was in the house at the time of the explosion.

"The gas board are currently in attendance in order to make the scene safe."

http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=22637#.Uf3k8dK1G30

 

file photo: Reuters

This ZetaTalk, written in late December, 2007 indeed describes what the holographic presentation that Nancy attended in November, 2009 was intending to relay. We have confirmed that some of these incidents will be part of a movement to the 7 of 10 stage, and by the end of 2010. In that we have also confirmed that burning oil fields in Iraq, caused by the rolling of the Arabian Plate, will be part of an 8 of 10, our 2007 ZetaTalk was also speaking of this point in time.

http://www.zetatalk.com/ning/12ju2010.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23594429

Rosario: Blast rocks Argentine apartment block

Footage from the scene shows the devastating aftermath of the blast, as Lucy Hockings reports

A powerful blast in a residential building in the Argentine city of Rosario has killed at least five people and injured more than 50 others.

Emergency teams have been trying to put out a fire and rescue the people who remain trapped in the upper floors.

Rescue teams say there is a risk of the apartment block collapsing. Nearby buildings have also been affected.

The explosion was probably caused by a gas leak in the building's heating system, local authorities said.

"We have 51 people injured and five confirmed deaths," said Santa Fe province Health Minister Miguel Cappiello.

One of the victims is reported to be a 21-year-old woman.

'Falling ceiling'

Witnesses say the blast could be heard several kilometres away. The explosion happened just before 1000 local time.

"I was in the bath when the explosion took place and the ceiling fell over my head. I have lost everything," a fifth floor resident identified only as Evangelina told La Nacion newspaper.

The 10-storey building's facade was ripped off by the blast.

Evangelina said the accident in the Salta street apartment block may well be linked to problems with the gas system.

"Two weekends ago, someone tried to rob the gas meter. A gas engineer was due to come to fix it today, so we were informed the gas was going to be cut off between 0900 and 1400.

"The huge explosion which destroyed one of the sides of the building happened at 0945."

Rosario city mayor Monica Fein is visiting the area affected. Via her Twitter feed, she asked residents to avoid approaching the zone so the rescue teams could carry on with their work.

Rosario - the birthplace of Barcelona football star Lionel Messi - is Argentina's third largest city, after Buenos Aires and Cordoba.