Dozens of people were killed and hundreds of others injured after an explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China on Thursday afternoon. The blast ripped through an industrial zone in Yancheng city, Jiangsu province. Photo: AFPBEIJING—The owner of a Chinese chemical plant that exploded this week, killing dozens of people and injuring hundreds, has a record of safety and environmental lapses, underscoring the nation’s challenge in improving industrial safety after a string of disasters in recent years. About a year before Thursday’s explosion at Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Co.’s factory left at least 62 dead, 28 missing and more than 600 injured, regulators reprimanded the company for poor management of fire safety and hazardous chemicals. The company—based...

Source: Wall Street Journal March 22, 2019 10:51 UTC