Date: October 20, 2023
Location: Pingguo City, Guangxi (China)
Address: Pingguo City Industrial Park
Type: Potential Dust Explosion
Fuel: Aluminum Dust
Industry: Aluminum Manufacturing (Metal Working)
Equipment: Unknown
Company: Guangxi Xingyue Material Technology Co., Ltd.
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: Six Killed, Four Injured
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
Public information shows that Guangxi Xingyue Material Technology Co., Ltd. was established in August 2021. It is the Guangxi headquarters enterprise of Zhejiang Crescent Holding Group Co., Ltd. It covers a total area of more than 200 acres in the industrial park and has a total construction area of 69,196 square metres. The company invested 2.6 billion yuan to build a copper anode plate project with an annual output of 400,000 tons and a recycled aluminum alloy project with an annual output of 400,000 tons.
Incident Description:
On October 21, 2023, NDTV reported an explosion at an aluminum facility in Pingguo City, China.
The incident, which occurred at approximately 9:30 p.m., sent shockwaves through the community, obliterating windows and doors of homes in its vicinity. Online videos showed the night sky ablaze and the factory in flames as rescue operations commenced.
Citizens from nearby regions reported the impact, with some mistaking the loud explosion for earthquake tremors. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, but the power of the explosion has been likened to that of a missile by local netizens, who feared the shockwave could have caused damage up to two kilometres away.
EFE confirmed that six people were killed and four injured. Preliminary findings suggest that the explosion was triggered by a high-temperature leak of liquid aluminum during the rod casting process, but the investigation is ongoing.
