Blast at Baotou rare‑earth steel plate plant kills and injures dozens

An explosion ripped through a plate mill unit at a rare‑earth steel plant in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, on Sunday afternoon, killing several people, injuring dozens and prompting a sweeping rescue and investigation. The blast struck at around 15:00 local time in a unit operated by Baogang United Steel, a subsidiary of Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union, damaging buildings and equipment and sending smoke and debris across the facility.

Official tallies changed as rescue efforts continued. The Ministry of Emergency Management issued an initial statement reporting two deaths, 84 injured and eight missing. Company filings by Baotou Steel Union confirmed 84 people injured and said assessments of material losses were ongoing. State broadcaster CCTV and Xinhua provided subsequent updates during the following 48 hours that raised the death toll in stages, first to six and then to nine fatalities, and indicated one person remained missing in the later counts. CCTV also reported that several of the injured were critically ill. Hospitals in Baotou received the wounded and emergency medical teams continued to treat patients.

Company communications and the ministry said the explosion occurred in or near a saturated water and steam tank at the plate mill, and that shock and heat had damaged parts of factory buildings and production equipment. Baotou Steel Union warned that operations at the plate mill and adjacent facilities could be affected while inspections and repairs proceed. The company also reported that ecological monitoring at and around the site had shown no contamination of air or soil and that no wastewater had been released from the scene.

A Ministry of Emergency Management task force led by a vice minister was dispatched to the site to lead and coordinate on‑site rescue and response. The State Council’s Work Safety Commission placed the accident under direct supervision, instructing regional authorities to conduct a swift probe and submit findings to central regulators. Senior central officials were reported to have issued instructions to prioritize rescue and safety reviews, signaling heightened political attention to the incident.

Footage and images widely circulated online in the hours after the blast showed plumes of smoke, collapsed ceilings, twisted piping and scattered debris; residents in nearby neighborhoods reported hearing a heavy blast and feeling tremors. Rescue teams combed through damaged areas, and recovery operations continued as engineers assessed structural safety and investigators sought to determine the sequence of mechanical and procedural failures that led to the explosion.

The plant’s operator has previously faced scrutiny over safety practices, and the latest accident is likely to intensify regulatory oversight of the group and the wider industry. Chinese industrial accidents involving high‑heat processes and steam systems have historically prompted central reviews of safety procedures and emergency preparedness, and officials indicated the probe would seek to identify lapses in plant maintenance, equipment standards or operational controls.

For now, authorities are balancing urgent medical care and search operations with evidence preservation for the investigation. With casualty figures revised upward in successive official updates, relatives and local communities remain on edge while state teams work to stabilise the site and account for all workers.