Nine people were hospitalized as a result of an explosion at the Karabashmed plant

October 1, Chelyabinsk. On Thursday morning in the metallurgical shop of CJSC "Karabashmed" there was a depressurization of the cooling system of the exhaust gases of the smelting furnace, resulting in an explosion. Nine people were hospitalized. Four of them are in critical condition. All the victims were evacuated to the Karabash city hospital.

According to the local Ministry of Emergency Situations, this incident does not affect the production process of the plant, the operation of the copper concentrate smelting furnace will be suspended for the duration of the repair. In total, 4 units of equipment and 10 personnel were involved in the elimination of the consequences of the explosion from the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

"Karabashmed" is a city-forming enterprise. Since 2004, the plant has been under the management of the Russian Copper Company. The main activity is the production of blister copper from copper concentrate, as well as from secondary copper-containing raw materials. The company employs over 1200 people, 95 percent of them are local residents.

Karabash is considered one of the most polluted places on the planet, despite the fact that it is currently excluded from the list of cities with the highest level of atmospheric pollution. Due to long-term emissions of sulfurous anhydride (which, when interacting with the water contained in the atmosphere, forms sulfuric acid), vegetation in the vicinity of the Karabashmed plant has completely disappeared.

In March of this year, Rosprirodnadzor demanded to suspend the activities of a copper plant in the city of Karabash, Chelyabinsk region for environmental violations.