Deere Suspends Operations at China Plant

The devastation left by successive explosions at a chemical warehouse in China last week has forced Deere & Co. to suspend factory operations until later this week.

The explosions blew out windows and doors at the Deere buildings, a spokesperson told Reuters, and at least one water main broke, causing damage to the engine works facility. Ceilings also showed signs of damage. Until recently, an evacuation order kept company officials from returning to the site to more fully assess the damage.

The factory employs 1,300 people. The spokesperson said a small number of employees suffered minor injuries from flying glass. An employee who was home at the time of the explosions remains hospitalized.

As of Monday, the death toll from the explosions was 112 with 95 people still missing, according to the official Xinhua news agency. CNN reported that President Xi Jinping has urged authorities to learn from the disaster and strengthen industrial safety procedures and oversights.

The Deere factory is about 3.7 miles from the blast area in this port city of Tianjin, China. S