Explosion at the Amur gas chemical complex construction site: four different tolls in a single day

On August 25, 2026, an explosion followed by a fire occurred at the construction site of the Amur gas chemical complex, a plant under construction in the Amur region, in Russia’s Far East. There is no disagreement over the event. Over the toll, there is, and the gap between the versions is the main fact of the day.

The four versions

According to a statement from the plant’s press service, one Chinese national employed by a contracting firm died and another 104 people sought medical assistance. The same source reported that the fire is believed to have started in an auxiliary technological section of the pyrolysis unit and that the main equipment was not damaged. The company itself describes this reconstruction as preliminary: “According to preliminary information, the fire occurred in an auxiliary technological section of the pyrolysis unit” (transl. from Russian), reads the statement from Amurskij GHK’s press service.

The television outlet Ren Tv, cited by Novaya Gazeta, instead reported five deaths and nineteen people hospitalized in the city of Svobodny. The Telegram channel “112”, picked up by the Russian-language service of The Moscow Times, attributed the origin of the explosion to a methanol drum and reported more than 130 people affected, six of them in serious condition.

Source	Deaths	People affected
Plant press service	1	104 assisted
Ren Tv (via Novaya Gazeta)	5	19 hospitalized
Telegram channel “112”	not specified	over 130, 6 serious

How to read the discrepancy

The figures are not comparable because they do not measure the same thing. “People who sought medical assistance” is a broader category than “hospitalized,” and “affected” is broader than both. On this level, the numbers 104, 19 and 130 can coexist without contradiction.

The death toll cannot: one and five are incompatible. Among the available sources there is no statement from regional or federal public authorities establishing an official toll, and in the absence of such a statement neither figure can be presented as confirmed. This newspaper reports both, with their sources, and does not choose between them.

The difference between the two technical reconstructions should also be noted: the company preliminarily places the origin in an auxiliary section of the pyrolysis unit, the Telegram channel in a methanol drum. These explanations could be compatible or alternative; there is no material to decide.

The plant

The Amur gas chemical complex is an investment project of the Russian company Sibur with China’s Sinopec and is listed among the largest polyethylene and polypropylene production plants currently under construction in the world. The presence of Chinese labor at the construction site — the confirmed victim is a Chinese national employed by a contracting firm — is consistent with the project’s corporate structure.

The company’s claim that the main equipment was not damaged carries direct economic weight on the work schedule, and it comes from the party that must meet that schedule: it should be read as the party’s position, not as an expert assessment.

What we do not know

We do not know of a toll communicated by public authorities. We do not know the confirmed cause of the ignition: the company itself describes its own reconstruction as preliminary. We do not know whether the construction site was halted, nor for how long. We do not know how many of the 104 people assisted suffered injuries and how many were checked as a precaution, because the plant’s statement does not distinguish between the two.

The first element that would allow the gap to be closed is a statement from the Amur regional authorities with a count of the victims: at present, among the sources consulted, none is available.

Sources: Novaya Gazeta, The Moscow Times – Russian-language service, EADaily, RTVI.