A fire has broken out at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGCC) in Russia’s far eastern Amur region, killing seven people including six Chinese nationals, reported Reuters.
In a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app, the plant said a further nine people were missing.
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It added that 152 people were treated for injuries, including 36 who were taken to hospital.
An emergency services aircraft arrived to move some of the injured to other hospitals in Russia.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened an inquiry into the incident as a possible breach of industrial safety regulations and was working to determine the cause of the fire.
AGCC is a joint project between Russian company Sibur and Chinese oil and gas group Sinopec. It spans an area of 325 hectares.
The facility is yet to start operating and was preparing for the start of production, the plant said. Its commissioning began in 2024.
Russia often relies on foreign labour, including workers from China, during the construction of large industrial and infrastructure projects, the news agency wrote.
The plant is expected to produce 2.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of polyethylene and 400,000t of polypropylene.
AGCC said production capacity would be up to 2.7mtpa of finished products.
As part of the Amur gas processing and gas chemical cluster, Amur GCC is expected to become an industrial centre in the Russian Far East.
