China: Huge fire rages at cobalt recycling factory in Taizhou

A massive fire broke out at a cobalt recycling factory in eastern China last Friday.Footage shows the inferno engulfing the GEM Co. Ltd plant in Taizhou City, Jiangsu province. Huge clouds of black smoke rose from the factory as firefighters tackled the blaze.The safety and environment ministry of the Jiangsu Taixing Economic Development Zone said the fire started at the plant's raw material purification area.In a statement, a spokesman for the factory said: 'At 12 o'clock on January 7, 2023, the auxiliary workshop of the Grammy Taixing factory producing cobalt products caught fire, and the local fire department quickly arrived at the scene. 'The company has cooperated with the local fire emergency department to carry out fire extinguishing operations, and the fire has been extinguished. 'The cause of the accident is under investigation. There were no casualties in this accident. According to environmental protection on-site monitoring, atmospheric indicators are within the normal range.'