April 22, 2016 Updated 4/22/2016
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Twitter/Luis Felipe Puente Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto views the damage at Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo SA de CV plant following an April 20 explosion that killed 24.
The death toll from an April 20 explosion at a vinyl chloride monomer/ethylene plant in Mexico has climbed to 24 with another eight workers reported missing.
It also may have a broader impact to Mexico’s chloralkali industry.
The blast at the Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo SA de CV plant in the Pajaritos petrochemicals complex in Coatzacoalcos also seriously injured 88 people. Some 19 remained hospitalized on April 22, including 13 in critical condition.
In the joint statement, state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos and petrochemicals giant Mexichem SAB de CV said “it’s in the greatest interest to discover what happened in the plant and a profound analysis will be carried out to determine the root cause of the explosion.” PMV is a joint venture between Pemex and Mexichem.
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Pemex CEO José Antonio González Anaya said 12 bodies had been identified and eight have been handed over to their families. The company has met with the families of the eight workers who have been reported missing, he said.
A consultant, who asked not to be named, told Plastics News that the explosion may affect the wider chloralkali industry because Pajaritos is the main outlet for chlorine in Mexico.
The explosion occurred at 3:15 p.m. local time in the Clorados III area inside Pemex’s Pajaritos complex. Clorados is translated as chlorinated products in English.
Mexichem is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of PVC pipe. It has operations in 30 countries and employs 19,200 at 100 different sites.
Mexichem and Pemex said there was “no risk” to people living in the Coatzacoalcos area. Some 2,000 local people were initially evacuated, but were allowed to return to their homes. Luis Felipe Puente, the head of Mexico’s emergency services, said the state of emergency at the complex has been lifted.
During the afternoon of April 21 Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s president, visited the site along with several ministers of state.
Meanwhile, a Braskem Idesa SA official said the explosion had no impact on the massive new Ethylene XXI polyethylene plant, which is three miles away from the site.
