The death toll in the explosion accident of the steam ball tank at the Inner Mongolia Baosteel Plate Factory has further increased. As of the evening of January 19, state media reported that the accident has resulted in 6 deaths, with 4 people missing and 84 injured.
On January 18 at 3:03 PM, a 650 cubic meter saturated water and steam ball tank exploded at the steelmaking operation department of Baosteel Union Corporation Ltd. (referred to as “Baosteel Corporation”), a subsidiary of Inner Mongolia Baosteel Corporation. As of 6 AM on the 19th, 2 deaths, 8 missing persons, and 84 injuries were confirmed. Subsequent reports stated that this explosion accident has claimed 4 lives and left 6 people missing.
On the evening of January 19, the death toll increased again. According to CCTV News, the accident has now led to 6 confirmed deaths and 4 missing persons.
In a statement released by Baosteel Corporation on January 19, it was mentioned that the accident has caused damage to some buildings and equipment in the plate factory, which will impact the production lines of the plate factory and adjacent lines. The specific extent of the losses is currently being verified and assessed.
During the bidding session on January 19, Baosteel Corporation’s stock price dropped limit down. By the end of that day, the stock price of Baosteel Corporation was reported at 2.37 yuan, a decrease of 5.20%.
This explosion accident has deeply touched netizens, with related news continuously trending online.
One netizen “Blown-Up Pig” commented: “Official reports are downplaying the severity of the incident.”
Another netizen “Baidu User e194b12” mentioned that missing persons are essentially those who have been shattered by the explosion, which is tragic!
According to official reports, among the 84 injured individuals receiving treatment, 5 are in critical condition, while the rest have suffered facial and bodily soft tissue injuries.
Public information indicates that Baosteel Corporation’s semi-annual report for 2025 shows that its rare earth steel plate company, Inner Mongolia Baosteel Rare Earth Steel Plate Co., Ltd., was established in May 2018, held by Baosteel Corporation with the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region government as the actual controller.
Pengpai News reported that plates are the main product and revenue source of Baosteel Corporation, being the largest plate production base in Northwest China. Following the explosion incident, production at the accident site has been completely halted.
It is worth noting that this accident is not the first safety production challenge faced by Baosteel Corporation and the Baosteel Group. Between 2016 and 2022, Baosteel Corporation experienced 20 production safety accidents, resulting in 28 deaths.
Including the explosion accident at the Baosteel Rare Earth Steel Plate Factory on January 18 this year, as of January 19, 6 deaths, 4 missing persons, and 84 injuries have been reported. With this calculation, within the past 10 years since 2016, there have been 21 known safety incidents within Baosteel, causing at least 34 deaths. Specifically, from January to September 2022, Baosteel Group encountered 5 safety incidents leading to 12 deaths, which garnered widespread attention from Chinese society.
On March 11, 2022, there was a lifting-harm accident at the Baosteel Union Special Steel Branch Company, leading to 1 death. On March 14, 2022, a fire broke out during the maintenance of the 5 million tons/year calciner belt desulfurization and denitration system at the Baosteel Rare Earth Steel Plate Co., Ltd., resulting in 7 deaths. On May 26, 2022, a fire occurred when the No. 4 blast furnace cylinder of the Baosteel Union Ironmaking Plant burned through, resulting in 1 death and 4 injuries. On June 29, 2022, an electric shock incident occurred at the Baosteel Union Rail Beam Plant, leading to 1 death. On July 24, 2022, a physical impact accident during the No. 3 converter maintenance work at the Baosteel Rare Earth Steel Plate Co., Ltd., resulted in 2 deaths.
Moreover, on January 9, this year, Baosteel was fined 30,000 yuan by the authorities in Baotou for failing to take measures to eliminate hazards.
Just before the explosion accident on January 18, senior executives at Baosteel claimed during the first expanded meeting of the 2026 Safety Production Committee that they would focus on highlighting issues and carry out concentrated rectification and hidden danger inspection and control.
Netizens sarcastically commented that without sufficient investment in safety, the so-called rectification and hidden danger inspection and control are mere empty words.
Phoenix Net’s “Storm Eye” report revealed that the massive steam ball tank at the Baosteel Plate Factory’s steelmaking operation department disintegrated in the explosion, with parts of the tank soaring over two kilometers before finally falling into a scrap metal recycling yard. An original two-story building collapsed entirely, but fortunately, there were no people inside the yard at that time.
This enormous spherical pressure vessel, technically known as a spherical steam accumulator, is a critical equipment for large steel enterprises. Industry insiders speculate that the explosion may have been caused by excessive steam pressure in the tank or due to engineering quality or equipment aging issues.
Following the explosion, a white mushroom cloud shot into the sky, visible for several kilometers around. Videos captured by netizens documented the moment when the tank body flew into the air.