A devastating fire that erupted earlier this week at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex, a high-profile Russian-Chinese joint petrochemical project in Russia’s Far East, has left 15 people dead, facility management confirmed in an official statement released Thursday.
Footage circulated widely across social media platforms captured chaotic scenes from Tuesday, when large groups of construction and plant workers scrambled to escape the spreading blaze to reach safe zones. All 15 victims killed in the incident were on-site employees, according to the complex’s official statement. Of the deceased, one holds Russian citizenship, while the remaining 14 are foreign nationals, though management has not released additional identifying information. The previous day, officials had confirmed the recovery of eight bodies: one Russian national and six Chinese citizens.
Situated in Russia’s Amur region just kilometers from the Chinese border, roughly 5,500 kilometers east of Moscow, the complex is a major joint venture between China’s state-owned energy giant Sinopec and Russian petrochemical leader Sibur. Still under construction, the facility is slated to become one of the world’s largest production hubs for polyethylene and polypropylene, with a planned annual output of 2.7 million tonnes of the two widely used plastics when it enters full operation in early 2027.
Russia’s national Investigative Committee has opened a formal investigation into the fire, focusing on identifying the root cause and examining potential violations of workplace safety protocols. As of Thursday, investigators have found no evidence that the fire was the result of sabotage or intentional foul play.
When contacted by reporters for additional comment, Sibur directed inquiries to the Amur Gas Chemical Complex’s official statement, which noted that emergency recovery operations have already been launched in close coordination with Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations. The statement added that construction and installation work at sections of the facility that escaped fire damage will proceed on their original schedules, and continuous air quality monitoring is underway across the site. Officials confirmed that so far, emissions of hazardous substances have remained below regulated maximum allowable limits. Preliminary investigations have also found the fire was confined to the complex’s auxiliary process area, leaving the facility’s core production equipment undamaged.
China’s state-run Global Times reported that the local Chinese consulate has deployed a special response team to the incident site to assist with response and identification efforts. The Associated Press’ request for additional comment from Sinopec had not received a response as of Thursday’s statement. This report includes contributing reporting from AP correspondent Fu Ting in Washington, D.C.