According to reports by China’s state Xinhua News Agency and the Associated Press the employees, 37 of who have been hospitalised, were injured after inhaling phosgene.
Zhu Hai, from the Suzhou government’s emergency response office, confirmed the incident, telling the CRIEnglish website that eight of those injured are in critical condition
The news follows just a week after five people were killed by an explosion at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility owned by Quanxin Pharmaceutical in Kunming, Yunnan Province.
And, according to the China Global Daily, the Kunming explosion followed just two weeks after four workers were killed and five were injured after an explosion at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Huanggang, Hubei Province.
The latest incident is likely to raise further questions about safety standards for people employed in China’s fast-growing drug manufacturing sector.