Samsung has officially rejected rumours of methane leaking from the Samsung Thai Nguyen industrial complex in Thai Nguyen Province.

The yellow smoke column at Samsung factory. Photo Internet.

Over the last weekend, images and video clips uploaded on social media have shown gas leaking from the complex, which employs 50,000 workers.

Social media reported that at around 5.45pm last Thursday (April 9), a number of workers saw a waft of yellow smoke emanate from a workshop, followed by a burst of flames.

The workers then yelled to each other to run away.

An online newspaper quoted a janitor working in the complex as allegedly saying that she saw the flames flaring up and heard workers call out to each other to escape.

The janitor was also reported to have said there were many ambulances present on the scene at the time.

Some social media outlets reported that the gas in question was methane, which is hazardous to human health. Some even reported a methane gas explosion.

Nongnghiep.vn contacted the provincial labour department to inquire about the incident and was told that the confusion could be due to the fact that the leak happened near a building called "Metal" (Methane), leading people to mistake the gas for methane.

In an official response, Samsung has released its "precise scene report" to the press.

Vneconomy.vn quoted the report as saying that workers had discovered a puff of reddish-brown gas being emitted from the back of the truck collecting nitric acid (HNO3) waste.

Following the discovery, a factory chemical treatment team was promptly dispatched to the site to fix the problem and to take preemptive measures to prevent a fire.

Samsung said HNO3 was not a poisonous gas and the tests conducted in the field showed that the nitric acid content of the waste was low, coming in at a mere 0.04 per cent of the allowable limit set by the Ministry of Health for the workplace; thus, it does not harm workers' health.

Despite this, the factory's management board has decided to upgrade their garbage trucks to avoid similar incidents in the future. 

VNS