SHANGHAI (Reuters) - An explosion rocked a petrochemical plant in China’s eastern province of Shandong on Monday, killing eight people and injuring nine, state media and local government officials said.

Deadly accidents are common at industrial plants in China, where anger is growing over lax standards after three decades of rapid economic growth marred by incidents ranging from mining disasters to factory fires.

Monday’s blast took place about an hour after midnight, triggering fires at the loading area of Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co. Ltd. in the Linyi Lingang economic development zone, the state news agency, Xinhua, said.

The toll rose to eight, as authorities confirmed the deaths of seven people who had been reported missing, in addition to one death reported earlier, the local government said on its microblog.

Nine people were injured and the fires have been put out, the government said.

The “responsible person” at the company that runs the plant has been detained, Xinhua added, without giving details.

In 2015, huge chemical explosions in the port city of Tianjin killed more than 170 people, prompting a vow by President Xi Jinping that the authorities would learn the lessons paid for in blood.</s>Beijing: Eight people have been killed and five injured in an explosion and fire at a chemical plant in eastern China's Shandong province.

Xinhua News Agency said the accident was triggered by an explosion of a liquefied gas tanker in a loading area at the Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co plant at about 1 am on Monday.

The blast set ablaze several fuel storage tanks at the site in the Lingang Economic Zone in the city of Linyi. Nearby areas were evacuated.

The plant's owner was later detained by police and the injured were taken to a local hospital.

The Lingang Economic Zone said in a statement posted to the internet that the fire was extinguished by Monday afternoon after more than 900 firefighters responded.</s>Eight people have been killed and five injured in an explosion and fire at a chemical plant in eastern China's Shandong province. The official Xinhua News Agency said the accident was triggered by an explosion of a liquefied gas tanker in a loading area at the Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co.

Start the conversation, or Read more at NewsOK.com.</s>Eight people were killed and nine injured in an explosion and fire Monday at a chemical plant in eastern China's Shandong province, local authorities and media reports said. The accident was triggered by an explosion of a liquefied gas tanker in a loading area at the Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co.

Start the conversation, or Read more at NewsOK.com.</s>Eight people were killed and nine others injured today in an explosion at a petrochemical plant in China's eastern Shandong province.

Rescuers have so far retrieved seven bodies, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The explosion set ablaze several fuel storage tanks at the site in the Lingang Economic Zone in the Linyi city. The fire had been put out with secondary disasters unlikely.

Nine people were injured after a liquefied gas tanker exploded in the early hours causing the fire in the loading area of Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Company.

The injured were not in critical condition, according to the rescuers.

Police have detained the owner of the company.

More than 900 firefighters and over 170 fire engines were mobilised to extinguish the flames. People in nearby villages and plants were evacuated.</s>Aug 23 China's Shandong Heavy Industries is in advanced talks to buy a 25 percent stake in Germany's Kion Group to gain access to the fork lift truck maker's technology, three people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Shandong Heavy, which has offered to pave the way for Kion to expand in China, could fund a capital increase worth more than 700 million euros ($873 million), a welcome financial boost for Kion which faces a large round of debt refinancing next year, the sources said.

They said that Shandong Heavy has been in talks with Kion's owners, the private-equity arm of Goldman Sachs and buyout firm KKR, for quite some time.

Kion and its two owners declined to comment on the matter, which was earlier reported by German business newspaper Handelsblatt and monthly publication Manager Magazin. Shandong Heavy was not immediately available for comment.

Germany-based Kion Group, the world's second-largest fork lift truck maker after Toyota industries , has annual sales of 4.4 billion euros with brands including Linde, OM Still, Fenwick, Baoli and Voltas.</s>Shandong Heavy, which has offered to pave the way for Kion to expand in China, could fund a capital increase worth more than 700 million euros ($873 million), a welcome financial boost for Kion which faces a large round of debt refinancing next year, the sources said.

They said that Shandong Heavy has been in talks with Kion's owners, the private-equity arm of Goldman Sachs ( ) and buyout firm KKR ( ), for quite some time.

Kion and its two owners declined to comment on the matter, which was earlier reported by German business newspaper Handelsblatt and monthly publication Manager Magazin. Shandong Heavy was not immediately available for comment.

Germany-based Kion Group KIONG.UL, the world's second-largest fork lift truck maker after Toyota industries ( ), has annual sales of 4.4 billion euros with brands including Linde, OM Still, Fenwick, Baoli and Voltas.</s>BEIJING — Eight people were killed and nine injured in an explosion and fire Monday at a chemical plant in eastern China’s Shandong province, authorities and media reports said.

The accident was triggered by an explosion of a liquefied gas tanker in a loading area at the Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co. plant about 1 a.m., the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The plant’s owner was detained by police, and the injured were transported to a hospital.

Among the worst accidents was a 2015 explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin that killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers.</s>Shandong would gain access to Kion's enhanced hydrostatic drive systems, as well as its technology for fuel-cell hybrid trucks and electric drives for small and heavy forklift trucks.

Wiesbaden-based Kion, in turn, would gain better access to China, a massive potential market.

Shandong Heavy is set to take a 25 percent stake via a capital increase, a step to help the German maker of forklift trucks bring down its debt.

Shandong Heavy has been in talks with Kion's owners, the private-equity arm of Goldman Sachs and buyout firm KKR , for quite some time, the sources said.

Kion, its two owners and Shandong declined to comment on the matter.

Germany-based Kion Group is the world's second-largest fork lift truck maker after Toyota industries, with annual sales of 4.4 billion euros with brands including Linde, OM Still, Fenwick, Baoli and Voltas.</s>Four people were injured, one seriously, in an explosion at a gas-fired Nuon power plant in the Netherlands, a company spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman for Nuon, which is owned by Sweden's Vattenfall, said the explosion happened while employees were working on the plant's high voltage grid.

The plant was not operating at the time, she said.

It was unclear whether the explosion, at the plant in the town of Velsen Noord, 30 kilometres west of Amsterdam, had caused any damage to production. (Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; writing by Thomas Escritt; editing by James Jukwey)
Eight people are killed in an explosion at a petrochemical plant in Shandong, China.