AFTER a series of explosions, a six-storey apartment block in Yangpu District burst into flames last Saturday, killing one man and injuring about 20 other residents.

　　The Shanghai Morning Post reported that the dead man, named Chen Wending, died after falling onto a balcony on the second floor as he tried to flee his third floor apartment.

　　Many of the apartments in the building, located in the Baiyangdian Residential Area, were ruined in the fire and a woman resident was seen weeping in the street because her home had been destroyed.

　　A witness said that within five minutes of the first explosion on the ground floor, the fire had climbed to the third floor. Many people were trapped until firefighters arrived.

　　A fragrant chemical smell could be detected and thousands of cans with the brand name "Fa", made by the Henkel Cosmetics (Zhaoqing) Co Ltd of South China's Guangdong Province, were found scattered on the ground.

　　A rubbish recycling station was located on the ground floor of the apartment block and the only passage into the building was piled with rubbish. Although residents said they had complained repeatedly about the recycling station, it had remained in the building for the past seven or eight years.

　　Many residents said the site of the initial explosion was the recycling station where the cans were waiting to be collected.

　　A worker, surnamed Zhang, who was injured in the face by the first explosion, said he had been hired to work at the recycling station only two days earlier. His job was to cut the spout off the cans, pour out any contents and put the empty cans and spouts into different containers.

　　While working last Saturday around 8:10am, one of the cans he was taking apart suddenly exploded. The recycling station also exploded and he ran out of the room as it filled with smoke and flames.

　　A label on one of the cans reads: "No matter if the product is used up or not, don't bump it. It is forbidden to burn or break the can. Do not re-fuse it."

　　Staff working for several State-owned recycling stations said they would not collect similar used cans containing chemicals. They said regulations stipulated that used cans which had contained chemicals should be stored in special locations and handled by expert staff.

　　However, some privately owned recycling operations who did not employ specialized staff were now collecting any sort of containers in pursuit of profits and were ignoring safety considerations.

　　Some of the unexploded cans were heavy and did not seem to be empty.

　　A reporter from the Shanghai Morning Post visited the Shanghai Henkel Cosmetics Co Ltd at the far end of the residential area.

　　After waiting for over 10 minutes, the president of the factory, who was supposed to be away at a meeting, emerged from a toilet and agreed to an interview.

　　The president, surnamed Li, said he had heard the cans involved in the explosion and fire were produced by the Henkel cans but did not know how they came to be in the recycling station. After answering several questions, he left quickly.