The blast occurred around 11:00 a.m. at the company’s research and development site, which works on advanced weapons technologies, rocket systems and aerospace projects.

Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il said the accident may have occurred during the cleaning of equipment used in rocket propellant production, where explosive residue could have remained on tools.

The company pledged a comprehensive review of its safety procedures following the deadly incident. Political parties also announced they would scale back election campaign activities ahead of local elections as a mark of respect for the victims.

The fatal accident occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. local time on Sunday aboard FSO Sepat, an offshore floating storage and offloading vessel located off the coast of Terengganu in peninsular Malaysia, according to a statement issued by petronas

.
The company said three workers involved in the incident were pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital. A fourth worker sustained injuries and was evacuated for medical treatment, where the individual remains under observation.

Petronas did not disclose the identities of the workers or provide details regarding their employers, roles or the nature of the maintenance contract being carried out at the time of the accident.

The company said an investigation had been launched and was being conducted in coordination with relevant authorities to determine the cause of the incident.
Malaysia’s national news agency, Bernama, reported that the accident occurred during routine lifeboat maintenance operations.

According to the report, the workers had boarded a lifeboat and were in the process of lowering it into the sea when a rope or hook connected to the vessel is believed to have detached.

The failure reportedly caused the lifeboat and its occupants to plunge into the water. Bernama cited local police as the source of the preliminary information.

Floating storage and offloading vessels play a critical role in offshore oil and gas operations by storing and transferring hydrocarbons produced from nearby fields. Maintenance activities involving lifeboats and emergency evacuation systems are subject to strict safety procedures because of the risks associated with offshore environments.

Petronas, formally known as Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is Malaysia’s national oil and gas company and one of Southeast Asia’s largest energy producers. The company did not indicate whether operations at the vessel had been affected following the accident.

The blast struck the Liushenyu mine shaft on Friday while 247 workers were underground, making it China’s deadliest mining accident since 2009. Authorities said hundreds of rescuers, medical personnel and emergency specialists have been deployed to the site as efforts continue to locate the remaining missing workers.

State media reported that 128 injured miners had been transported to hospitals by Saturday evening, while rescue crews worked around the clock in hazardous underground conditions. Teams reportedly deployed robotic equipment to assess conditions inside the shaft and assist in the search operation.

Police sealed off access roads leading to the mine as emergency operations intensified. Rescue personnel were seen rotating in shifts to descend into the damaged shaft in hopes of finding survivors.

Chinese authorities have launched a formal investigation into the disaster. Preliminary findings indicate that the mine operator, identified as Shanxi Tongzhou Group, committed what officials described as serious legal and safety violations.

According to authorities, more than half of the workers underground at the time of the explosion had not been properly registered before entering the mine. Regulations require miners to complete facial-recognition verification or carry location-tracking identification devices before descending into operational shafts.

Officials said an individual responsible for the company has been taken into custody under Chinese law as investigators examine potential breaches of safety protocols and operational regulations.

The disaster prompted intervention by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, which ordered nationwide inspections and stricter enforcement measures targeting illegal mining activities, falsification of safety records, inaccurate worker headcounts and unauthorized contracting practices.

Survivor Wang Yong told state broadcaster CCTV that he smelled sulfur moments before the explosion. He said a cloud of smoke rapidly spread through the mine, causing panic among workers attempting to escape. Wang recounted seeing colleagues overcome by fumes before losing consciousness and later regaining awareness more than an hour afterward.

International leaders offered condolences following the accident. Sanae Takaichi expressed hope for the rescue of remaining workers, while Narendra Modi extended sympathies to affected families. Lai Ching-te said Taiwan was prepared to provide humanitarian assistance if needed.

The explosion occurred in Shanxi, the heart of China’s coal industry and one of the country’s largest coal-producing regions. Despite improvements in mine safety standards over recent decades, fatal accidents continue to occur as authorities grapple with enforcement challenges in an industry that remains critical to China’s energy supply.

The catastrophe is the deadliest mining disaster in China since a 2009 explosion in Heilongjiang killed 108 miners. It also surpasses the toll of a 2023 open-pit mine collapse in Inner Mongolia that claimed 53 lives.
China remains the world’s largest consumer of coal and the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, even as it continues to expand renewable energy generation capacity at a record pace.

The incident occurred at an aerospace facility in Garden Grove, southeast of Los Angeles, where a storage tank holding about 7,000 gallons (26,000 liters) of methyl methacrylate developed a leak. Emergency officials warned that the situation posed significant risks to nearby communities due to the chemical’s flammable nature and the possibility of a thermal runaway reaction.

Incident Commander Craig Covey said emergency planners were preparing for two primary scenarios: a complete tank failure resulting in a large chemical spill or an explosion that could affect neighboring tanks containing fuel and other hazardous materials.

“We are setting up these evacuations in preparation for these two options,” Covey said, describing the threat as serious and requiring immediate precautionary measures.

Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra said approximately 40,000 people were covered by the evacuation order, although several thousand residents chose to remain in their homes despite warnings from authorities.

Emergency crews continuously sprayed water on the tank in an effort to reduce its temperature and stabilize conditions. Later on Friday, Covey reported that cooling operations had succeeded in lowering the tank’s temperature to about 61 degrees, closer to what officials described as a safe operating range.

Authorities continued searching for alternatives that could further reduce the risk of either a major spill or an explosion.

Orange County Health Officer Regina Chinsio Kwong said the evacuation zone was established to protect residents from potential exposure to hazardous vapors in the event of a catastrophic failure.

She urged the public to report any detection of a strong fruity odor associated with methyl methacrylate, while noting that the smell alone did not necessarily indicate harmful exposure levels.

No injuries had been reported as of Friday evening, and officials had not determined the cause of the leak, which was first identified on Thursday.

Emergency responders were also preparing containment measures to prevent any released chemical from entering storm drains, waterways or channels that flow into the Pacific Ocean.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, methyl methacrylate can irritate the skin, eyes and respiratory system. Acute or prolonged exposure may also result in respiratory and neurological effects.