Foreigners stuck in Vietnam after deadly boiler explosion

By Phuoc Tuan May 4, 2024 | 03:00 pm PT

Police officers gather at a boiler explosion scene at the Binh Minh wood company in Dong Nai Province, May 1, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Phuoc Tuan

Seven foreigners working at a wood processing firm in the southern province of Dong Nai have been banned from leaving the country amid an investigation into a boiler explosion that killed six people.

Nguyen Manh Toan, deputy director of the provincial police department, said on Saturday the ban was issued by the department on the workers from specific workers from Binh Minh Wood Production and Trading Company.

The firm’s Chinese director, Feng Yong, has already been detained by local authorities.

The company has been engaged in the production and trade of wood products for over a decade, thanks to its foreign investment. It employs around 200 workers.

At around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, while 42 workers were on duty, a sudden explosion in the boiler resulted in the death of six people, including one Chinese. All were men aged 32-39. The accident also injured five other workers.

Initial investigations by authorities assessed that the explosion was caused by a technical error in the boiler. The day before the explosion, the boiler malfunctioned, and the company called a maintenance unit to repair it. The next day, as workers started the boiler, it exploded.