Explosion at petrochemical plant injures three in Malaysia
28 February 2022
An explosion and fire at a petrochemical plant injured three workers on February 24. The incident happened at a rubber plant in the Tanjung Langsat industrial complex in Malaysia’s Johor state and left three people with serious injuries.
Representative image: Shutterstock
According to reports, the incident occurred at Lotte Ube Synthetic Rubbers' (LUSR) butadiene rubber plant. LUSR is a joint venture between South Korea’s Lotte Chemical, its Malaysian subsidiary Lotte Chemical Titan, and Japan’s Ube Industries. Local news sites said an explosion occurred at around 15:15 local time, causing damage to storage tanks and a pipeline.
The Johor Fire and Rescue Department managed to extinguish a fire caused by the explosion while emergency services took three workers to hospital where they were treated for burn injuries and a broken leg after one of them jumped from a building to escape the flames. The cause of the blast remains unknown, and the plant has been shut while an investigation is carried out at the site.