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AN EXPLOSION AT a chemical plant in southwest China left 19 dead and injured another 12, the latest industrial accident in a country where lax regulations often lead to tragedy.
The blast occurred at 6:30 pm last night at an industrial park in Sichuan province’s Yibin city, according to a statement on the website of the local work safety administration.
The injured had been taken to hospital and were in stable condition, county officials said, adding that the resulting fire had been put out.
Photos on a local news site showed what appeared to be the burned out shell of a building surrounded by rubble.
The company that owns the building where the fire occurred is a chemical manufacturer named Hengda, according to the official Xinhua news service.
China has been rocked by several industrial accidents in recent years.
A septic tank explosion last November destroyed a wide swathe of a light industrial area in Ningbo, just south of Shanghai.
In 2015, giant chemical blasts in a container storage facility killed at least 165 people in the northern port city of Tianjin.
The explosions caused more than $1 billion in damage and sparked widespread anger at a perceived lack of transparency over the accident’s causes and its environmental impact.
A government inquiry eventually recommended 123 people be punished. Tianjin’s mayor at the time of the accident was sentenced to 12 years in prison for graft in September.
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RIP
Your sympathies aren’t much use really are they Minister Harris. Ye screwed the pooch on Nursing Homes entirely.
@TIME FOR CHANGE: I hope their passing was managed well and that they were comfortable up to the end. However, having spent many years visiting relatives in care homes I think that t is great ease to most f them to be released from the awfulness of incarceration in that setting.
@MiseBean: my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his 70’s. He languished in a home for years. He had no idea who he was or who anyone around him was. He was in great health otherwise and the doctors often remarked on it. He caught pneumonia one winter and died. My granny whilst obviously heartbroken (she visited him twice a day everyday) was delighted his suffering had ended. She said she was glad his mind was gone as he would never have been able to cope with what he had become. In some cases, being artificially kept alive is not the best solution. This doesn’t in anyway excuse the handling of this in nursing homes but more musings about nursing homes in general.
Good God, that’s dreadful. There needs to be an INDEPENDENT enquiry into the treatment of nursing homes by the government and HSE as soon as humanly possible.
@Unconvertible Rebel: March 10th – ‘Department of Health has said that general visiting restrictions that some hospitals & nursing homes have introduced, should be lifted. The National Public Health Emergency Team has not recommended these’
https://mobile.twitter.com/FergalBowers/status/1237447726331281408
@Unconvertible Rebel: Seems extraordinary that we seem to have done so well in our hospitals but so very poorly in our care homes and hospices. Makes you wonder whether decisions were made early on to prioritise one over the other.
@Unconvertible Rebel: my Mother works in nursing home in Dublin, they have 15 deaths so far. Agency staff is big factor in number of cases. All staff were tested earlier this week for the first time ever. My Mom was back to work this morning and was told she tested negative. Other staff tested positive came to work this morning to be told to go home and isolate. Whoever is organizing communication needs to be sacked or learn technology
@Unconvertible Rebel: These deaths in Nursing Home were known by all key decision makers from the outset. When the median age was almost always over 80 why couldn’t our Journalists ask more probing questions
Key decision makers deemed it more important to prioritise the community as against the 30,000 in Nursing Homes
@Oscar Wilde: they were too busy putting a deal in place to pay 115 million a month to private hospitals, that are now not being used by the way.
@Unconvertible Rebel: why what’s not out there that we don’t ready know? Even units who locked down and followed guidelines impeccably have been ravaged. This virus requires very little penetration to affect old people.
So sad all these elderly people who have who’ve lived through some hard times in the past and then sadly taken by a horrible disease that they just can’t fight, they should be enjoying their last year’s and not worrying what might happen
The focus should have been on the elderly and those with underlying health conditions
Not closing down the country
@Alan Farrell: and how would you suggest we focus on protecting the elderly and vulnerable?
Here’s an idea, we cocoon them and let everyone else go about their business.
Check out how well that approach worked out for the UK!
@Jim Buckley Barrett: Or Sweeden with double or death rate
What are the government doing to stop cases in nursing homes
@Richard Doherty: st Mary’s is a government home. The HSE didn’t suddenly get efficient.. very sad
@Richard Doherty: condolences to the families of the dead, God bless the staff they did the best to make them comfortable.
Saying sorry just doesn’t cut it lets be honest.
God bless Mr Harris, Mr Holohan also and all HSE staff.
@@fplinsider1: conflating those two who managed to wriggle their way out of the Cervical Check scandal with all the frontline HSE staff is rather obnoxious
@@fplinsider1: why thosr 2?
Are most death cases in care homes now ?
Terrible as it is, Should restrictions be relaxed on figures outside care homes ?
@James Quinn: Staff still need to go in and work in nursing homes. Food and other supplies still need to be delivered to them so relaxing restrictions for everyone else still puts them at risk.
@James Quinn: selfish sod
@James Quinn: No. They shouldn’t.
@Lochlainn Marcus: unfortunately it’s collateral damage at this stage
@James Quinn: A certain group in Ireland used the same term to explain the deaths (murders in their case) of innocent people too. Shocking choice of words.
@James Quinn: You gasping for a pint James?
@Ricky: gasping to see your ma
@James Quinn: I hope none of your elderly relatives get ill as your collateral damage quote would come back and bite you.
May I ask a question? And I ask in all sincerity. Many here seem to support the lockdown and restrictions as being a necessary hardship. And I don’t wish to belittle that but as they say, everyone has a breaking point. What would people’s personal breaking points be in relation to shifting their support away from the resteictions and wanting them relaxed??? Would it be economic hardship?? Loss of job? Loss of income? Something like the mortgage holiday ending and the mortgage having to be paid again? Something like the subsidies and social welfare payments dropping because the government simply can’t afford to pay them??? Everyone has a breaking point. In sincerity…what would yours be??? I’m just trying to gauge how far people can be pushed with this before the tipping point comes. And please dont say you wouldn’t tip under any circumstance…that either belies your lack of honesty, your lack of understanding of your own limitations, or your lack of an imagination.
@Kevin Tyrrell: If you can’t find a way to entertain yourself when you already have a generous 2km radius and a multitude of online options to buy things then you are a selfish selfish idiot who deserves a fate like coronavirus. I have been out of work for 83 days due to the virus but adapted to online work, and where I was had far stricter measures. The Irish are getting off easy by comparison. If they are whinging about breaking points then tough.
@Paul Cunningham: +1 there Paul. Can’t cope with a bit of time at home. Gagging to go back to work myself but I can’t so I’ll suck it up. But a lot of the ‘lift the restrictions’ crowd are more than likely pub goers missing the auld pint and head wrecked from yer wan indoors….
@Ricky: ‘cos ultimately it’s always the woman’s fault.
@Paul Cunningham: Hmmm…seems like I hit a nerve there. And I’m not stating that people should break the restrictions, I’m merely asking what are peoples breaking points to where they would find the restrictions too restricting and beyond their own ability to withstand. Its just a general question and an important one at that. Some people like yourself are obviously paragons of virtue and utterly above such human frailties. So obviously this question is not for you. I’m asking mere mortals. And I’m not an idiot. I didn’t ask the question to push for the lockdown to end. Merely to allow people to be honest. But honesty seems too far a stretch, particularly here on the Journal. Its utterly tribal and trivial back slapping or shouting over the ditch most of the time…and you are a great advertisement tor that by the way. But still…it’s merely a question that I believe is valid and yes, I fear many are probably too scared to answer online for fear of being castigated by the likes of yourself. It’s this crushing of any conversation which actually seeks to allow the very topic of the frailty of the human being that puts people between a rock and a hard place. Why can’t we simply talk about this?? Why is it so utterly important to you to shout that down??
@Kevin Tyrrell:
start the ball rolling. What’s your breaking point in this case??
@Coole Swan: Well that’s fair enough. Overall I would say that I am not in too bad a place at the moment. I am a pretty adaptable person and happy enough in most situations. I would say though that I have a very strong independent, individualist streak and I’m a staunch libertarian. I believe firmly in the freedom to choose for the individual as long as they do as little harm to others in the process and I’m not happy with any form of dictatorialism. This leaves me in a bind as I one part of me does long for the freedom to be an individual but it is over-ridden by the need to protect others. So I am complying, so that I am potentially causing the least amount of harm. However, the point for me always was the “because I said so” statement. Nothing is more patronising or abhorrent to me. It may seem trivial to some but I detest that attitude. Give me the facts, and all the facts, pure and unvarnished and without agenda of any sort and give me the reason you are asking me to comply with a request and if its justifiable then you will have no problem with me complying. My tipping point is those in authority giving only information that suits an agenda, not telling the whole story or spinning something to keep me compliant…or just plain telling me to do so…just because. I also believe that the authorities must listen to all parts of society and not just a single interest group. If the outcry from a certain sector of society was being downplayed, ignored or stifled then it would also anger me. I do understand the government’s reasons for enacting the legislation and that they are doing so with only small sectors of society in mind. The health service and the most vulnerable. Any other agenda is a smokescreen as I’m sure many people who are healthy would take their chances if truly given the choice and needs dictated their actions. But at the moment it is warranted that they do protect the health service and the elderly. However if in the future they ignore the outcry from others who need their voices to be listened to also, then thats being too authoritative and dictatorial and too blinkered for me. In the end, the choices the government either makes or avoids will be the point that sets me off. In my book leaders should lead…and be sympathetic to all and not just one part. At the moment they are doing okay. It’s a tough job. I feel they do need to be more decisive and either bankroll the whole system (which will inevitably lead to collapse) or come up with an exit strategy as soon as possible because we are passed 1 deadline already and the next is only 2 weeks away. If they avoid the grasping the nettle, the interminable rolling over of the restrictions deadline is going to cause fatigue and people will just figure they haven’t a clue what they are doing and then push the bounds of what is allowed…like rebellious kids do with indecisive parents. To me, and it’s just my particular tipping point, it’s denying people their autonomy and their own instincts for self preservation without a supreme justification for doing so. It may never come to that…hopefully it won’t. They are actually doing okay in my book and being better than most. But they need to make decisions that allow others the opportunity to be responsible too. I know that can be a recipe for disaster as it just takes a minority of desperate people or idiots to send us all back here again. But in the end, and it’s only my point of view, you never get anywhere by denying people the chance to prove they are responsible enough to be trusted when the stakes are high. So…there you go.
@Kevin Tyrrell:
that’s a hard act to follow. I don’t find it to bad. I am compliant for the good of all.
A lot depends on your living conditions & family relationship during times like this.
It is hard for the politicians as they have not experienced anything like this before so trial & error.
Nobody wants an authoritarian leadership. Many can take responsibility & others will take chances.
Breaking point would be a serious shortage of food & a disastrous economy sunk into a deep depression.
Many believe it is only a matter of time before the Euro will crash, Europe break up which will have far reaching consequences on our lives.
@Tommy Roche: It would also seem that as Paul lost his job 83 days ago he must have been working in Asia, as if he lost his job 83 days ago it can’t have been in Europe as no European or even Middle Eastern country even had Covid 19 cases 3 months ago…so he is probably back home here living with his parents. It’s very probable that he doesn’t have a mortgage here, or any loans, or have a family to feed, clothe or worry about, yet he feels it is fair enough to castigate those who do just because he feels like he can be insulated and thus not really care. This is the lofty tower of White Knight virtue signalling from a place where he will never know the pressures of the people he wishes doom upon. Ignorant Self righteousness doesn’t even begin to describe his nature.
@Coole Swan: totally agree with you there. It will be different for each person. And some are closer to the limit right now than others. I know people who worry about what happens in June when the mortgage holiday ends and their workplace is still shut!!! Will they have to start paying their mortgage again??? My wife is Polish and her parents are elderly and she dreads one of them coming down with it and she couldn’t be there…and god forbid one of them passed away and she would be stuck here not even able to say goodbye properly. There are a million pressure points that people have…but we all have them and everyone has at least one that would break their resolve. That’s my point. The authorities need to be sympathetic to these also, particularly if they intend to prolong this. Those who are on the edge of financial difficulties, paying mortgages and such are obviously the most vulnerable out there, and the government needs to need them and their plight also. Im only thankful I’m not among them.
@Kevin Tyrrell: Not getting sick and dying is the start point for me and it goes from there. That includes family and friends.
Left to die, shocking treatment of the most vulnerable people in society but sure we’re experts at that. RIP to all
@Ger Murray: Sad but true. Was a prior decision made to prioritise those ICUs over our elderly citizens? Certainly seems so.
@Johnny 5: getting hospitals ready definitely took priority over everything else including private nursing homes. Nobody was banging on about it back at the start but in hindsight of course the hse should have been all over them. But the we would have been subsidising private nursing homes that the various populist politicians would be fuming over.
The nursing homes need to take some responsibility. Every business has a responsibility to keep employees and customers safe. I’m sure plenty of nursing homes did the right thing but sadly nursing homes on the whole island are being hammered by it. Very sad.
Plenty of inquiries due and to come when this is over.
@Johnny 5: the median age of people dying is over 80. The median age of people in ICU is 60. What does that tell you?
@Nioe: prioritising a deal for private hospitals at 115 million a month, and which are now idle and were never utilised, is one of the biggest scandals of this pandemic.
@Eugene Walsh: not one mention of contract staff (cleaners and the like) – my understanding is that the agency constantly bounces them from one nursing home/care home to another – surely that was a factor and I didn’t hear of any changes in that practice – HSE probably haven’t a clue what the agency staff are doing
@Gordon Walsh: They should never privatise primary care in any form and sadly a certain party loves to privatise everything. That has never changed. so if you want to point a finger go to the EU and our parliament and see who favour it. The right wing partyies in the EU parliament with one party a member of it. Step up the party that want the sell everything possible FG
Dying and grieving in isolation is one of the cruelest aspects of life right now.
For those who have lost someone close recently, I’m offering a simple gesture. I’ll create a video memoir which can be shared privately among family and friends, maybe helping you to grieve collectively. No charge. All the details can be found here https://bit.ly/videomemoir
Simon Harris,you’ve got so much blood on your hands,you horrible excuse for a human being. If you had looked after the nursing homes as you should have,so many older people would still be with us. End this cull now!!
@Dave Ashmore: Don’t make it personal anyway. No doubt another SF supporter.
Mistakes were made by the whole team for sure. Can’t blame one person. You sound like someone who never managed a crisis, but just like sitting on the sidelines giving out.
It’s tough and they were prioritising getting hospitals up to speed for the madness. Nursing homes in hindsight needed more attention. Same in NI where situation is a lot worse. Blood on Sf also I presume and every other country in the world.
@Nioe: tell that to the nursing home that looked after my late sister and Mam,the same nursing home that lost a beautiful 31 year old care worker to Covid 19. My political views don’t come into this you fool,but at least I don’t hide behind a fake profile. Now run along there,it’s way past your bedtime,Leo is waiting for your report you horrible troll.
@Dave Ashmore: I’m no troll. Definitely not one of Leo’s. I actually vote green. Used to use Facebook login but got some offline abuse from some cyber bully.
Sorry for your loss. I’ve lost some one too but it ain’t just one persons fault. Life is not that black and white. Never is.
@Nioe: For future reference, not everyone that has a problem with our government is a SF supporter.
With so many deaths in nursing homes, Residents must have decreased significantly.
Most proprietors are in it to make a profit.
Can vacancies be filled or have they to wait until the virus is eradicated? If so, will they loose a lot of money or will they be compensated?
They can’t really operate half empty.
That’s in Hospitals…….. you can double that number in reality!
@Brendan Redmond: it’s not in hospitals, this was in care homes.
have your say