A fire that broke out at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGCC) in Russia’s far eastern Amur region has killed 15 people, according to the plant’s operators, with search and rescue operations now concluded.
The blaze began on August 25 in an auxiliary section of the pyrolysis unit at the complex, located near the town of Svobodny, outside Blagoveshchensk and roughly 150 kilometres from the Chinese border.
It took nearly a full day to bring the fire under control.
In updates posted to the Telegram messaging app, the plant’s press service initially reported seven confirmed deaths, along with nine people listed as missing.
As search efforts continued, the death toll rose to 15.
Of those killed, one was a Russian citizen, and the remaining 14 were foreign nationals, including at least six Chinese workers employed by contracting organisations.
The company said all of the victims worked for outside contractors rather than the plant itself.
A total of 152 people sought medical treatment following the fire, and dozens were hospitalised.
An emergency services aircraft was deployed to transport some of the injured to other hospitals across Russia. As of the latest figures, 39 people remained hospitalised.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened an inquiry into the incident as a possible breach of industrial safety regulations.
Officials said they were still working to determine the cause of the fire, and no indications of sabotage or foul play have been reported.
The plant’s operators said the complex’s main equipment was not damaged and that construction at unaffected facilities would continue as normal, with air quality being continuously monitored.
AGCC is a joint venture between Russian petrochemical company Sibur, which holds a 60 per cent stake, and Chinese state-owned energy and chemical group Sinopec, which holds 40 per cent.
Sinopec and the Silk Road Fund also each hold minority stakes in Sibur itself.
The project, valued at close to US$12 billion, spans 325 hectares and is considered one of the largest petrochemical developments in the world.
The facility had not yet begun commercial operations and was in the process of being readied for launch when the fire broke out.
Commissioning of the plant began in 2024, and it had originally been expected to start production in early 2027.
It remains unclear how the fire will affect that timeline.
Once operational, AGCC is expected to produce 2.3 million tonnes per annum of polyethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polypropylene, with total production capacity reaching up to 2.7 million tonnes of finished products annually.
Around 90 per cent of that output is intended for export, primarily to China and other Southeast Asian markets.
The complex is designed to draw feedstock, including ethane and liquefied petroleum gas, from Gazprom’s nearby Amur Gas Processing Plant, which handles gas delivered to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline.
As part of the broader Amur gas processing and gas chemical cluster, AGCC has been positioned as a future industrial hub for Russia’s Far East.
Russia has long relied on foreign labour, including workers from China, to help build large industrial and infrastructure projects such as this one.
