An explosion caused by a formaldehyde leak at a chemical plant in Minhang District killed one yesterday morning.
The accident happened at about 10am when workers from Shanghai Lulei Chemistry Co Ltd were transplanting formaldehyde from a truck to an empty container in their factory, witnesses said.
When a worker opened the valve on the container, which was supposed to be empty according to workers, gas inside the container exploded.
The blast threw the worker four meters away and he died on impact.
Police haven't released the name of the dead worker, but he was a middle-aged man and the brother-in-law of the factory's owner, according to witnesses.
The factory owner refused to comment on the explosion.
Officials from the fire control brigade and work safety committee arrived at the scene soon after the accident.
They are still investigating the cause of the blast.
But officials from the work safety committee said the factory didn't register with them.
"We will make a further investigation of the accident," an official said.
The plant, together with several other companies such as cloth manufacturer and mechanical factory, each rented a workshop in a defunct factory.
Some workers from the neighboring company said the chemical factory set in the building at the beginning of this year.
"The living area and the working area are in the same workshop," a worker who didn't want to reveal his name said.
"There is also a kitchen in it."
The firemen cleaned the workshop in two hours.