The blast occurred around 11:00 a.m. at the company’s research and development site, which works on advanced weapons technologies, rocket systems and aerospace projects.

Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il said the accident may have occurred during the cleaning of equipment used in rocket propellant production, where explosive residue could have remained on tools.

The company pledged a comprehensive review of its safety procedures following the deadly incident. Political parties also announced they would scale back election campaign activities ahead of local elections as a mark of respect for the victims.

The incident occurred on Tuesday at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant in Longview, where a massive storage tank containing a highly caustic industrial chemical ruptured during an early morning shift change, triggering a large-scale emergency response and search operation.

“We have recovered the ninth and final missing employee of this incident,” Longview Fire Department Chief Brad Hannig told reporters, confirming the end of the recovery effort.

Authorities had earlier reported two fatalities immediately following the accident, while nine workers remained unaccounted for amid difficult search conditions inside the industrial complex.

According to officials, the accident involved a 900,000-gallon tank holding a substantial quantity of white liquor, a chemical solution widely used in paper production. The tank ruptured after what authorities described as an implosion, releasing large volumes of the substance within the facility.

White liquor is a highly alkaline mixture containing sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide. In the pulp and paper industry, it is used to break down wood chips into pulp, a key step in paper manufacturing.

The scale of the tank and the hazardous nature of the chemical complicated rescue and recovery efforts throughout the week, prompting a major response from local emergency services.

The facility is operated by Nippon Dynawave Packaging, a U.S.-based subsidiary of Japan’s Nippon Paper Group. According to company information, the plant manufactures paper-based packaging products and produces approximately eight billion single-serve containers annually for customers across North America, Asia and other international markets.

Authorities have not yet released details regarding the cause of the tank failure. Investigations into the incident are expected to examine operational procedures, equipment integrity and workplace safety conditions at the facility.

The accident ranks among the deadliest industrial incidents in Washington state in recent years and is likely to intensify scrutiny of chemical storage and safety practices within the pulp and paper manufacturing sector.

Rescuers worked by hand amid intense heat to clear debris from the collapsed structure, located about 80 kilometers north of Manila, avoiding the use of heavy machinery because of concerns that further movement of the wreckage could endanger any survivors trapped beneath the rubble.

Search operations intensified after overnight thermal scans detected signs consistent with heartbeats and breathing under the debris. K9 units were deployed while rescue workers inserted flexible tubes into voids within the wreckage to channel air into potential survival pockets beneath collapsed concrete, twisted metal and scaffolding.

Families gathered near the disaster site expressed frustration over the lack of information about missing relatives. Lea Casilao, whose husband is believed to be trapped beneath the rubble, said she had received no confirmation of his condition as rescue efforts continued.

Officials said the confirmed death toll rose to four after rescuers recovered a third body from the site. Maria Leah Sajili, information officer for the regional Bureau of Fire Protection, said one victim recovered earlier had initially shown signs of life but later died, while another suffered cardiac arrest while still trapped beneath the debris.

Authorities warned that additional victims could remain buried under the collapsed structure.
Among the fatalities was a 65-year-old Malaysian national whose body was recovered on Sunday from a neighboring hotel building that was also affected by the collapse, officials said.

Government agencies have opened an investigation into the incident and are seeking to locate the building owner to determine the circumstances surrounding the collapse and establish how many workers were present at the site when the structure failed.

Planning records showed the project had been approved as a nine-story condominium-hotel development. Authorities said, however, that construction work was underway on a swimming pool located on an additional 10th floor at the time of the collapse.

Geraldine Panlilio, regional director of the Department of Labour and Employment, told DZMM radio that the agency had issued a work stoppage order in September 2025 after inspectors identified multiple occupational health and safety violations at the site. The order was lifted one month later after the construction company complied with regulatory requirements.

The collapse has renewed scrutiny of construction safety oversight in the Philippines as investigators examine whether regulatory, structural or operational factors contributed to the failure of the multi-story building.

The deadliest accident occurred in central Kampong Chhnang province, about 60 km (37 miles) north of Phnom Penh, when a heavy cargo truck collided with an open-top vehicle carrying garment factory workers to work, killing nine people and injuring 53 others, according to Cambodia’s Labor Ministry.

In a separate incident in southeastern Svay Rieng province, a major garment manufacturing hub near the Vietnamese border, a bus transporting workers veered off the road and overturned. Five workers were killed and 40 others were injured, authorities said.

Most of the victims in both accidents were women employed in Cambodia’s garment industry, one of the country’s largest employers and a key source of foreign exchange earnings.

The Labor Ministry said it was “deeply shocked” by the two accidents, which occurred on the same day, and called for stricter adherence to traffic regulations to reduce road fatalities.

Worker transportation remains a longstanding safety challenge in Cambodia, where many laborers travel to factories aboard modified flatbed or open-top trucks that often lack adequate seating and safety protections. The vehicles are widely used because they offer a low-cost transportation option for workers earning relatively modest wages.

Cambodia’s garment sector, which includes clothing, footwear and travel goods manufacturing, employs between 800,000 and 1 million workers across roughly 1,900 factories. The industry generated more than $15.5 billion in export revenue last year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

Factory workers typically earn between $200 and $300 per month, including overtime pay, making affordable transportation a critical issue for both employees and employers.

Road safety remains a major public concern in the Southeast Asian nation. According to Cambodia’s Transport Ministry, traffic accidents claimed 1,467 lives in 2025, making road crashes the leading cause of accidental deaths in the country.

The latest fatalities are likely to renew scrutiny of worker transport practices and broader road safety standards as Cambodia seeks to sustain growth in its export-oriented manufacturing sector.

The explosion occurred late on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan County, where 247 workers were on duty underground at the time of the accident, according to state news agency Xinhua. Rescue operations were continuing on Saturday as authorities worked to locate remaining workers and assess conditions at the site.

The mine is operated by Shanxi Tongzhou Group Liushenyu Coal Industry, a company established in 2010 and controlled by Shanxi Tongzhou Coal Coking Group, according to corporate records.Local emergency management authorities said the cause of the explosion remained under investigation.

Shanxi, China’s leading coal-producing region, has long been at the center of the country’s mining industry and has experienced numerous major industrial accidents over the decades.President Xi Jinping ordered authorities to spare no effort in treating the injured and conducting search-and-rescue operations, according to Xinhua.

He also called for a comprehensive investigation into the disaster and accountability for those found responsible under the law.Premier Li Qiang urged officials to ensure the timely release of information and enforce rigorous accountability measures as investigations proceed.

Xinhua reported that executives linked to the company operating the mine had been detained following the accident.Provincial authorities dispatched seven rescue and medical teams comprising 755 personnel to the disaster site, according to Qinyuan’s emergency management bureau.

China has significantly reduced fatalities in its coal mining sector over the past two decades through stricter safety regulations, modernization efforts and tougher enforcement standards.

Nevertheless, gas explosions and other underground hazards continue to pose risks in some mining operations.

The previous deadliest coal mining disaster in China occurred in 2009, when a coal and gas outburst at a mine in Heilongjiang province killed 108 people and injured 133.