China's Aerospace University Explosion Kills 2, Injures 9; Experts Call Over Safety Concerns For Research Institutes

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics laboratory exploded on Sunday afternoon. Officials recorded several casualties. Hence, Chinese chemists have demanded that lab safety be improved as a result of the tragedy.

According to sources, the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Jiangjun Road campus's laboratory burst before 4 p.m. local time. The university in question is regarded as the birthplace of China's cutting-edge aerospace technology.

China's Aerospace Laboratory Explosion Kills 2, Injures 9

City's fire department's official Weibo page said two individuals died and nine others were injured due to the incident. South China Morning Post said authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion. Meanwhile, they have concluded the rescue efforts.

Videos released online showed clouds of smoke billowing from the school, as well as images of a man with serious burns and ashes on his skin.

Later, the institution verified that the explosion occurred at the College of Material Science and Technology and that it resulted in a fire.

Energy conversion, nuclear energy equipment materials, materials preparation and protection against hostile environments, and electrochemical storage are among the five core laboratories of the college.

Furthermore, it is unknown whose laboratory was involved, and no other information regarding the deceased or injured has been released.

The university is China's leading defense research center, with three state-level laboratories, two of which specialize in helicopter technology. The Hoover Institution, a think tank at Stanford University, named the organization as one of the "Seven Sons of National Defense."

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According to Asia News Today, the stated institutes, which support China's defense research and industrial base and advocate or carry out military-civil fusion policies, civilian channel research into military applications.

Explosions Not The First Time In Chinese Laboratories

This isn't the first time Chinese research institutions have exploded. Reports said there had been such accidents for years which experts repeatedly expressed their safety concerns over research institutes.

A graduate student died in a laboratory blast at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Chemistry in Beijing on March 31.

The Shanghai intermediate people's court handed down its final decision on a student injured in a lab explosion at a Shanghai university on September 29.

Donghua University also had to pay $250,000 in the September 2016 incident. Two students were critically injured in the explosion, which happened in a chemistry, chemical engineering, and bioengineering laboratory. Another student had minor injuries.

Sup China said three students died in a laboratory explosion at Beijing Jiaotong University on December 18, 2018, due to sewage treatment research. According to Beijing's fire service, the disaster was tremendous since it shattered windows and left the structure appearing like a burned shell.

Beijing Jiaotong University's environmental engineering laboratory also had another explosion on December 26, 2018, killing three students. Hence, Chinese national authorities ordered corrections in the production, sale, transportation, and storage of dangerous chemicals, with comprehensive safety inspections at every stage. A total of twelve university administrators were sanctioned.

A lab blast at Tsinghua University killed one postdoc researcher in December 2015.

"Hope colleges can conduct safety investigation in the labs to prevent any tragedy like this," a Weibo user posted on Sunday per Global Times.