Behind the scenes

Chapter 16

21
Zheng Gang was the first to rush to the factory.On the way, he used his mobile phone to report to the duty office of the municipal government, and then to the municipal emergency center and the command center of the Public Security Bureau.But as soon as he entered the factory gate, he was still stunned by the tragic image in front of him: from the first floor to the fourth floor of the factory office building by the roadside, all the glass was shattered, and the guard who watched the gate was covered in blood. It took a lot of effort to open the crooked electronic iron door.As soon as Zheng entered the factory, he quickly ran to Unit 1. There was thick smoke billowing there, the smell of natural gas was choking, the fire was still burning, and there might be a danger of explosion.He didn't dare to go forward, he wanted to see how the control room looked like, how Zhou Changxue looked like, how the tall control tower equipment looked like, through the gunpowder smoke, he saw nothing, all he saw was a deep, deep pit , His legs softened and he sat down on the ground.

The driver and the bloodied guard ran over and carried him to the gate.At this time, several fire engines with flashing lights had already entered the factory, and firefighters rushed to the scene and began to put out the fire.At this moment, Li Zimin's car arrived, and he ran out of the car and grabbed Zheng Gang, "What caused the explosion? Did anyone die? How many were injured?"

Zheng Gang shook his head, "I just came back too, so I don't know anything."

"Then put out the fire first, and save people quickly." Li Zimin was talking, and the chief of the public security bureau arrived with four 110 vans. , the strength is not enough, immediately notify the armed police force to come to a company. Hurry up, hurry up."

Zheng Gang said: "I am familiar with the situation in the factory, and I will lead the way." So, dozens of police officers, led by the driver, guard and Zheng Gang, divided into three teams and began to rescue the wounded.

The three fire trucks that came first began to put out the fire, and then the fire command staff transferred four more large foam fire trucks.The General Chemical Plant is a flammable and explosive unit, and the fire-fighting measures in the plant are also very advanced. Now they have also been activated by firefighters, and the fire was quickly brought under control.More than a dozen ambulances from the emergency center and several major hospitals in the city also rushed to the scene. The medical staff and the police were transporting the wounded. Rush to the scene for video recording and interview.

After more than an hour of intense fighting, the fire has been extinguished, the wounded were sent to the hospital, and the entire rescue work has basically come to an end.Since the device of the No. 1 production line has been shut down, and the No. 2 production line is also running at a low speed, and Zhou Changxue has closed the production line before the explosion, there is not much natural gas in the device, especially when more than 100 barrels of products near the main device have been shipped out, which has reduced considerably. A big loss, if the more than 100 barrels of products all go off, then the whole factory will be ruined. The No. 1 main device and the control room were razed to the ground, and a large pit more than ten meters wide and three meters deep was blown out. The large pit had already begun to leak water.After a preliminary investigation, there were 54 workers in the factory at that time, 38 of whom were injured and four were seriously injured. Zhou Changxue, who was on duty in the main control room, disappeared.Hearing this result, Li Zimin heaved a sigh of relief. He used his mobile phone to tell Bai Zhi, who was on duty in the government, to call Gu Yishun, the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee who was resting in the provincial capital, and formally telexed to the provincial government. Did Liu Rong find it?Bai Zhi said: The whereabouts of Mayor Liu Rong and Secretary-General Ma have not been found yet. Their mobile phones have been turned off all the time, and the driver's pager has not roamed, and they have not been contacted. He asked Li Zimin if he knew where Mayor Liu was. Somebody went to visit and condolences, Li Zimin said angrily: I don't know about this kind of thing, please contact me again.

The explosion at the chemical plant shocked the entire city of Xianghan.At first people thought it was an earthquake, but the people of Xianghan City suffered a lot from the Haicheng earthquake more than 20 years ago.Now that the earthquake is mentioned, my heart is also chilled.But when they saw thick smoke rising from the northern outskirts of the city and a big fire, and all the fire engines in the city headed towards the chemical plant with their sirens and lights flashing, people knew that something had happened to the plant.Many people walked out of their homes and came to the gate of the government or stood in front of the fire brigade and the city's emergency center. The weather was very cold, and people looked anxiously at the fast-moving fire engines and ambulances. All sorts of gossip.

Zhou Changxue's wife, Xu Wenli, took her son Xiaotao back to her natal home around two o'clock in the afternoon.Originally, I wanted to wait for Changxue to come back and the three of us would go home together for the Spring Festival. Zhou Changxue hadn’t been to his father-in-law’s house for more than two months. He said that the factory was busy and he had to work overtime. .Xu Wenli understood Zhou Changxue's character, so she didn't say anything, and took the child back to her natal home.Her natal family lived in Sidao Street. Her parents were old and retired, so they started cooking when they got home. At four o'clock, her brother and sister-in-law also came back.The elder brother also asked: "Why didn't Changxue come? I haven't seen him for a long time." Xu Wenli said: "I'm busy! I am busy all day, and I still draw some blueprints when I go home at night, and I don't see how much he earns." money."

At 04:30, the family sat down to eat, and my father opened a bottle of white wine, saying that it was Chinese New Year, let’s all have a drink, when the glass was lifted, there was a loud noise, which scared the whole family jumped.Xu Wenli said with a bad face, "What's the matter?" Her father said, "It must be the cannons. It's almost Chinese New Year, and the cannons are getting louder and louder."

Xu Wenli didn't say anything, and ate in silence.After taking a few bites, I felt something was wrong, put down my chopsticks, and said, "I'll call Changxue to see if he's free. If he's free, come and eat together."

Father said: "Okay, let's eat slowly first, and wait for him."

Xu Wenli called the technical department, the main control room, the factory department, and the switchboard, but there was no sound on the phone.She put down the phone inexplicably.

Father asked: "Is there no one to answer?"

She shook her head.She picked up the phone again, dialed 112, and asked if there was something wrong with the telephones of the chemical plant. The operator on duty at the telecommunications bureau told her that there was an explosion in the chemical plant just now, and all the telephone lines in the plant were broken.Upon hearing this, Xu Wenli dropped the handset of the phone on the table, her eyes went dark, and she almost fell down.

Father asked: "What's wrong?"

"Chemical plant, something happened." Xu Wenli said forcefully.Then put on clothes, "I'm going to the factory to have a look, Xiaotao will put it here first."

When the family heard that something had happened in the factory, they all stopped eating.Xu Wenli's brother said, "I'll go with you." The two went downstairs to take a taxi and went straight to the chemical plant.At a place more than 200 meters away from the factory gate, the taxi was stopped by the armed police, and the factory was put under martial law.They jumped out of the taxi and ran to the gate of the factory. Xu Wenli was about to rush into the factory, but was stopped by the armed police.She yelled, "Let me in, let me in, my husband is in the factory."

The armed police said: "The personnel have already been sent to the hospital, let's go to the hospital."

At this time, Xu Wenli saw Zheng Gang standing at the gate of the factory, and she shouted: "Director Zheng, I am Xu Wenli, where is Changxue?"

When Zheng Gang saw Xu Wenli, tears rolled down his eyes. He ran over, said something to the armed police, and helped Xu Wenli into the factory gate, followed by his brother.

Xu Wenli grabbed Zheng Gang's hand: "Director Zheng, the senior is studying, did you go to the hospital? How is the injury? It doesn't matter, right?!"

"Learn from him, he..."

"What's the matter with him? Tell me quickly, tell me quickly." Xu Wenli was a little crazy.

"He, he's missing."

"Ah!" Xu Wenli yelled, her eyes darkened, and she fell down. Zheng Gang quickly called the staff and carried Xu Wenli into an ambulance. Xu Wenli's brother followed, and the car drove towards the city's emergency center.

Li Zimin formed a temporary headquarters in the public meeting room on the second floor of the factory office building.The glass of the window was shattered, and it was cold, so people temporarily nailed down the windows with quilts. It was already dark and there was no electricity. Comrades from the Public Security Bureau brought explosion-proof lamps and flashlights, and comrades from the Telecommunications Bureau Two lines were temporarily connected, together with the walkie-talkies of the public security department and many people's mobile phones, the external communication was smooth.Li Zimin divided the command into three groups, one is the rescue group, led by the deputy mayor in charge of industry, to find out the source of danger in the factory, and do a good job of safety management to prevent accidents from happening again.One is the ambulance team, led by the deputy mayor in charge of health, mainly concentrated in several hospitals to rescue the wounded with all their strength.The other is the security team, led by the chief of the Public Security Bureau, responsible for the safety and traffic of the entire factory area and during emergency rescue.The comrades in the government office brought dinner to the scene, and the comrades who had been busy for several hours began to eat.

Li Zimin was also hungry. He had just picked up his box lunch when his cell phone rang. When he connected it, it was Bai Zhi who called. The city rushed over, and the municipal party committee had already sent a car to pick it up.Mayor Liu Rong has not been contacted yet. Several secretaries of the government are contacting the leaders of relevant provincial departments to inquire about Mayor Liu's whereabouts and report immediately if there is any situation.He also said that he just received a phone call from the provincial government. The provincial leaders were very concerned about the explosion of the chemical plant. Governor Xia made important instructions after knowing about it, and said that he would come to Xianghan in person immediately.Please ask the government to send someone to pick him up at the entrance of the expressway and lead him to the scene.Li Zimin didn't expect that the governor would come to Xianghan overnight. He wanted to pick him up in person, but he felt that he couldn't be separated from the scene, so he thought for a while and said, "Bai Zhi, you can leave it to Secretary-General Chen to be on duty at home." , you take a car and go to the highway entrance to pick up the governor."

Bai Zhi said on the phone: "The provincial government said, let the mayor pick it up." Li Zimin said: "The mayors are busy now, pick up someone and lead the way. You, the deputy director of the government office, are not small. , you go, this is my decision. The provincial government criticizes me if you want to criticize, you have to hurry up, get on the road early and wait, if you go late and can't pick up the governor, I will ask you."

Bai Zhi took the task, handed over the work on duty to Xiao Cao, the general secretary of the secretary's office, and then reported to Secretary-General Chen who was in command in the government building, and then asked for a Santana from the motorcade. What Secretary-General Chen thought He was thinner than him, and asked for a police car from the security department of the Public Security Bureau. The two cars left the government together and went to the expressway to pick up the governor.

When the car was halfway there, Bai Zhi's addiction to cigarettes came up, but he took out the cigarette case and saw that the two packs of cigarettes had been smoked all afternoon, so he asked the driver to find a small shop to stop, and he was going to buy cigarettes.As soon as his car stopped, the police car at the security department also stopped. Deputy Director Guo of the security department got out of the car and caught up with Bai Zhi in front of the small shop, "Director Bai, what are you doing?"

Bai Zhi said: "There are no more cigarettes, I can't take it anymore, buy a few boxes, otherwise I won't be able to pass the night."

The Chief of Security and Bai Zhi are also very familiar, "What kind of cigarettes to buy, can government officials still buy cigarettes? Come on, get in my car." He pulled Bai Zhi into the guard car, and walked from the back seat He took out a piece of Yuxi and threw it to Bai Zhi.Bai Zhi took Yuxi with excitement in his eyes: "Thank you, thank you so much."As he spoke, he opened it, took out a box, opened it again, took out one and lit it, took a deep puff, spit out the cigarette again, and said gratefully: "This Yuxi is different from the Red River. Money tastes the same!"

The head of the security department smiled, "Big pen, if you run out of cigarettes in the future, just squeak it. Our security department is surrounded by big leaders all day long, so you're not bad."

"That's good, that's good." Bai Zhi had already smoked out a Yuxi at this time.

When the police car arrived at the entrance and exit of the expressway, Director Guo thought for a while and said, "We can't wait here. It's better to drive on the expressway. It also seems that Xianghan City attaches great importance to it." In the direction of time, I got on the expressway from north to south in the provincial capital, and stopped 50 meters before the intersection. Both cars turned on their lights, especially the police car, which had a row of three-color police lights on the roof. On the dark highway, it looks very dazzling, and all kinds of passing vehicles look here.

Bai Zhi lit another Yuxi and smoked it fragrantly. He looked at his watch, it was 08:30, and the governor might be here soon.The chief of security had sharp eyes and said, "Here we come", and the two jumped out of the car quickly.There was a dazzling flash of police lights in the distance, and the sound of the siren could be heard clearly.In a blink of an eye, the convoy has arrived in front of them. The first car is a high-end police car imported from the United States. It is wide and long, and the police lights are also very bright. A middle-aged man came down from it. Director Guo recognized it. He stepped forward and stood at attention, and reported, "Director Sun, we are here to pick up the governor." Director Sun who got out of the car asked, "Where's the mayor?" His eyes searched around.

At this moment, Governor Xia got out of the second black Audi A6.Bai Zhi has never seen the real Governor Xia, but only watched it on TV.Tonight he was wearing a green military overcoat and a green military cotton cap, which completely lacked the splendor of the neat suits on TV.He got out of the car, without a smile on his face, and asked Bai Zhi sharply, "Where is your mayor? Where is the mayor?"

The huge contrast in the impression of the Governor suddenly gave Bai Zhi a lot of courage, and he said loudly to Governor Xia: "Report to the Governor, our mayor has gone to the province to give gifts!"

"What what? What did you say?" Governor Xia became a little angry.

"I'm telling the truth. Our mayor, Liu Rong, went to the province to give gifts in the afternoon, but we haven't been in touch until now. Li Zimin, the government adviser, sent me to pick up the governor."

"who are you?"

"I'm Bai Zhi, Deputy Director of the Municipal Government Office."

Governor Xia gave him a hard look, and said angrily, "Then let's go." Saying that, he got into the A6 Audi.

The police car of the city security department was in front, followed by a row of cars behind them, with sirens and lights on, and entered Xianghan City in a mighty manner, heading towards the General Chemical Plant.

Li Zimin greeted Governor Xia at the gate of the chemical plant, and several deputy mayors and standing committee members of the municipal party committee who were at home also came. The scene was much better than that on the expressway.Governor Xia didn't shake hands with Li Zimin and the others, and didn't make any greetings. He came directly to the scene of the accident. Looking at the exhausted area and a three-meter-deep crater, the governor didn't say a word. , The governor does not speak, and no one else dares to speak.The secretary general of the provincial government, the director of the economic committee, the director of the labor department, and the director of the public security department who accompanied the governor did not dare to speak out, and the scene was very tense.The accompanying reporters from the provincial TV station and cable TV station were nervously videotaping with their headlights on.

After a long silence, the governor asked, "How are the casualties?"

Li Zimin quickly replied, "One person is missing, 48 people were injured, four of them were seriously injured."

Who is missing? "

"The technical section chief of the factory, Zhou Changxue, the deputy chief engineer, was on duty at the scene when the explosion occurred."

"What's the cause of the accident?" The governor looked at Li Zimin and asked.

"The reason may be that the equipment is aging and has been running with illnesses, and finally..."

"Asshole. What's the point of transporting when you're sick? If you're sick, fix it as soon as possible, and make fun of people's lives! Whose idea is this?"

"This..." Li Zimin had nothing to say.

Governor Xia saw that Li Zimin was difficult to speak, so he said to the provincial director of labor beside him: "Old Wang, you should cooperate with the Public Security Bureau to quickly investigate the cause of the accident and hold the relevant personnel accountable." After speaking, he said to Li Zimin : "Let's go, accompany me to the hospital to see the wounded!"

A large convoy, with dazzling police lights on, arrived at the city's emergency center.The mayor Meng in charge of health, the director of the city's health bureau, and the director of the hospital were already waiting in front of the hospital. They led the way and led the governor to visit the wounded.Most of the lightly wounded were wounded by glass or something. They were bandaged or sewn together. There was nothing serious. Relatives and friends rushed over. The governor shook hands with the wounded and relatives one by one to express condolences. The TV reporters were busy taking pictures. , Tired and sweating.After surgery, the four seriously wounded were all out of danger. The family members were crying, but they also celebrated that they had chosen a life in vain.I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the governor for his personal condolences.

The director of the hospital led the governor to the ward where Xu Wenli lived.Before entering the door, Li Zimin said: "This is the only family member of Zhou Changxue who died in the accident. There is nothing left of Zhou Changxue's body. Just look at his family members." The governor nodded, opened the door and walked into this place. single.

Xu Wenli was lying on the hospital bed. Her parents and elder brother came, and her 13-year-old son was crying with tears all over his face.Seeing that so many leaders came, Xu Wenli still sat up. The governor held her hand and said, "You have to be strong. Your lover is a good person."

Zheng Gang squeezed to Xu Wenli's side from behind, and handed her a watch strap that had been shaken, a watch cover, and a watch that had stopped moving, "This is the only thing we found at the scene."

Seeing this very familiar old-fashioned Shanghai brand watch, Xu Wenli couldn't control herself again, and she shouted: "Long school, long school, what will my child and I do if you leave!" and passed out again.The doctors rushed over to rescue her.

Governor Xia walked out of the ward and looked at his watch. It was almost ten o'clock.Li Zimin said: "Governor, take a rest at the hotel, we will report to you in detail."

Governor Xia said: "No, I have to go back to the province. There is an important meeting tomorrow. The provincial investigation team will come up with a conclusion as soon as possible about the accident." After he finished speaking, he shook Li Zimin's hand , "Subject, I understand you, and you should not change after becoming a consultant!"

Li Zimin nodded and held Governor Xia's hand tightly, "Governor, don't worry, Li Zimin is Li Zimin."

The governor and his party got into the car and left the hospital.

As soon as the governor and his party left, Gu Yishun, the secretary of the municipal party committee, and Liu Rong, the mayor, hurried back.They went to the scene, listened to the situation, visited the wounded, and did not go to the hotel to rest until after two o'clock in the middle of the night.

22
As soon as the new year is over, it will be the Spring Festival in a blink of an eye.In the past few days, the busiest ones are the party and government leaders of Xianghan City.The sudden explosion of the chemical plant on the 23rd of the lunar calendar disrupted all the plans of the two major groups of the municipal party committee and the municipal government before the Spring Festival.On the 24th day of the lunar calendar, the municipal party committee convened an emergency standing committee. Gu Yishun, secretary of the municipal party committee, said with a serious expression: "The explosion at the chemical plant had a very bad impact on our city's prestige in the province. Secretary Zhao of the provincial party committee also intervened. Regarding this matter, I hope the government can take immediate action to investigate and deal with the accident and deal with the aftermath. At the same time, the restoration and transformation of the chemical plant should be put on the agenda, and competent personnel will be dispatched to do a good job in this work."

(End of this chapter)