An aerial view of the devastated coal-to-gas factory where an explosion on Friday afternoon killed 15 in Yima, Sanmenxia in Central China's Henan Province Photo: VCG

The local government of Yima, Central China's Henan Province, where an explosion at a gas factory on Friday killed 15 people, said air quality is up to standards after emergency measures were taken. 

The blast took place at a coal-to-gas factory in Yima, Sanmenxia city, Henan Province on Friday afternoon. Fifteen people were also seriously injured, Yima government announced on its website on Saturday. 

Monitoring of the air and water suggests both are within standards, an official from Yima government, told the Global Times on Sunday. He declined to provide additional details about situation at the site. 

Lu Huazhao, a deputy chief of the Sanmenxia ecology and environment bureau, said that a blast at a gas factory will inevitably include certain chemicals. 

He shrugged off concerns that pollution from the blast may impact local residents, saying the air quality will soon return to normal. 

After the blast, the local government took urgent measures to deal with the pollution. 

Lu said that polluted water is held back by temporary dams and will be filtered, news portal thepaper.cn reported. 

A Sina Weibo user who claimed to come from Yima told the Global Times that a group of environmental experts are stationed in Yima and have been taking air and water samples every 10 minutes. "It should be safe," she said. 

Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), told the Global Times on Sunday that "under control" and "in line with standard" don't indicate there is no pollution. 

The gas may quickly diffuse and likely won't affect many people, but water and soil will remain polluted, Ma said. 

IPE's database shows the factory has a record of several excessive emissions. It was fined several times by the local environmental department between 2014 and 2016. 

The factory's environmental records suggest poor management could have been a factor in the blast, Ma noted.
Newspaper headline: Air quality up to standard after deadly blast: local official