Dangerous trail: a strong fire broke out at the Amur Gas Processing Plant

On Tuesday, August 25, a fire broke out on the territory of the Amur Gas Chemical Complex under construction. As a result of the incident, five people were killed and more than 130 injured. The source of the fire has been localized, operational services and specialists continue to work on the spot. What is known about the incident, its consequences and the course of the investigation is in the Izvestia material.

Fire on the territory of the complex, victims

The fire occurred on August 25 at the construction site of the Amur gas chemical complex. According to preliminary data, the fire started at an auxiliary technological site of the pyrolysis plant. The fire area was about 2 thousand square meters. m.

To ensure safety at the facility, they began to stop equipment that is at the stage of commissioning. About 50 people were evacuated from the complex. The main technological equipment of the AGCC, according to preliminary data, was not damaged as a result of the fire.

The number of injured as a result of the incident at the AGCC continues to be clarified. 132 people were injured. Among them are 78 foreign citizens and 10 Russians. 19 victims were hospitalized: six are in serious condition, 13 more are in moderate condition. According to the latest information, five people were killed in the explosion at the enterprise, one of them a Chinese citizen.

Rescuers and medical teams continue to work at the site. Additional medics from Moscow will be sent to the Amur Region to help the victims.

What is known about the causes of the accident

The exact cause of the fire on the territory of the Amur gas chemical complex has not yet been established. It is known that the fire was located at the auxiliary technological site of the pyrolysis plant. At the time of the incident, the equipment of the complex was undergoing commissioning, so specialists began to stop it in stages after the start of the fire.

Additional questions about the causes of the fire arose after reports from residents of the village of Chernihiv located next to the AGCC. According to them, about two weeks before the fire, they began to feel a strong smell of gas from the company. The first complaints were received on August 13, and the most pungent odor was on the night of August 16-17. After the residents' appeals, the specialists took air samples at the border between the enterprise and the residential building.

However, so far no official connection has been established between complaints about the smell of gas and the subsequent fire. Experts continue to find out what became the source of the odor and whether it could be related to technological processes at the facility.

In parallel, the scale of damage and the state of the equipment are being assessed. The main equipment of the complex, according to preliminary data, was not damaged. After localization of the fire on the territory of the facility, controlled combustion of the remaining process gases is carried out. The final conclusions about the causes of the incident will be made based on the results of the inspection and investigation.

The reaction of the authorities

After the incident at the Amur Gas Processing Plant, regional authorities, law enforcement and supervisory authorities joined the work. The Prosecutor's Office of the Amur region took control of the establishment of all the circumstances of the fire and organized an inspection. Denis Gerasimov, the first deputy prosecutor of the region, went to the scene of the incident. Based on the results of the audit, if there are grounds, the prosecutor's office intends to take response measures.

The investigative authorities also opened a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 217 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("violation of industrial safety requirements for hazardous production facilities"). The investigation will have to determine the causes of the incident and check whether the safety requirements were met at the enterprise.

At the same time, the authorities are monitoring the situation outside the enterprise. After the fire, specialists from Rospotrebnadzor and the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology examined the area on the border with residential buildings and took atmospheric air measurements. No excess of the maximum permissible concentrations of harmful substances was detected in the residential area of Svobodny. Monitoring continues.

The authorities and operational services also stated that there was no threat to residents of nearby territories.

Will the incident affect the launch of the complex

At the time of the incident, the Amur Gas Chemical Complex was in the final stages of preparation for launch. In July, SIBUR announced the simulation of future launch modes, and the first production was expected in August 2026.

It is too early to talk about how much the fire will affect the start-up time of the enterprise. The causes of the accident and the extent of the damage are still being determined.

The launch of the AGCC directly depends on the results of checking and evaluating the condition of the equipment. Since the incident occurred during the commissioning work, the specialists will not only have to determine the causes of the fire, but also ensure the safety of further technological operations. Until these procedures are completed, it is impossible to name the exact dates for the resumption of commissioning and the launch of the complex into commercial operation.

What is known about the Amur GHK

The Amur gas chemical complex is being built in the Svobodny district of the Amur region, about 15 km from the city of Svobodny. This is a joint project of the Russian SIBUR and the Chinese company Sinopec: the partners' shares in the enterprise amount to 60% and 40%, respectively. The complex should become one of the world's largest production facilities for base polymers.

The project provides for the production of up to 2.7 million tons of products per year: about 2.3 million tons of polyethylene and 400 thousand tons of polypropylene. The raw materials for production should be ethane and liquefied petroleum gases, which come from the nearby Amur Gas Processing Plant. In June 2026, the AGPZ began supplying ethane and LPG to the AGCC — the raw materials were intended, among other things, for commissioning.

Construction of the complex began in August 2020. The project is being implemented as part of an emerging gas chemical cluster in the Amur Region, which also includes the Amur Gas Processing Plant and the infrastructure of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. It is expected that the launch of the AGCC will increase the production of polyethylene and polypropylene in Russia and create an additional raw material base for enterprises producing polymer products.

In 2026, the complex started commissioning. SIBUR's specialists simulated the launch of key installations in advance and tested various operating modes in order to prepare the equipment for reaching its design capacity.

The project is also of significant economic importance for the region: a cluster of related industries is being formed around the future enterprise, and the construction of the complex is accompanied by infrastructure development and the creation of new jobs. After the AGCC reaches its design capacity, its products will be intended for both the Russian market and export.