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Blast at gas factory leaves one dead, two injured
YOKOHAMA -- A powerful blast rocked a toxic gas treatment factory in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Monday, killing a worker and seriously injuring his two colleagues, authorities said.
The accident occurred at the Isehara factory of the Tokyo-based Japan Pionics Co. shortly before 4 p.m. No damage was reported outside the factory.
Japan Pionics worker Osamu Ichikawa and the two others were reportedly rendering toxic gas -- a byproduct of manufacturing semiconductors -- harmless using gas treatment equipment at the time of the accident.
The survivors told police that the explosion occurred when one of them dropped a 1-meter long metal cartridge containing the toxic gas to the floor, killing 34-year-old Ichikawa. One of the injured people lost a leg.
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