The Ministry of Emergency Management called for China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, and other state-owned enterprises on Friday to learn a lesson from a recent explosion and strengthen responsibilities to root out safety hazards.

The ministry said the blast, which happened on Nov 28 at a chemical plant in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province and killed 23 people, was the most serious incident by a state-owned enterprise in the chemical industry in recent years.

The incident was seriously incompatible with the image of state-owned enterprises, the ministry added.

On Friday, the authority ordered 14 state-owned enterprises, including the ChemChina, to pay attention to safety problems in the operation of hazardous chemicals, thoroughly examine security risks and take effective measures to prevent similar incidents.

The blast occurred at 12:41 am, trigging a chain of explosions, with flames engulfing 38 trucks and 12 other vehicles.

A preliminary investigation found that the accident was caused by a leak of chloroethylene gas from a storage facility at Hebei Shenghua Chemical Industry Plant that burned fiercely when it encountered flames, bringing a large number of casualties.