Factory In Jiangsu Blast Was Linked To Toxic Waste

President Xi Jinping ordered local governments on Friday to prevent any more industrial disasters as local reports indicated that the chemical company linked to the Jiangsu blast that left 47 people dead has a history of breaking environmental regulations.

Xi – who is on a state visit to Italy – urged "all-out efforts" to rescue those trapped and to identify the cause of the accident "as early as possible", according to the Xinhua news agency.

The State Council has established a team to investigate the explosion, state media said.

The explosion in the eastern city of Yancheng toppled several buildings in the industrial park and caused a huge fire that raged through the night, while rescuers scrambled to find survivors in the wreckage of the plant owned by a company with a chequered past.

More than 600 people have received medical treatment following the blast, said the city government on its official Twitter-like Weibo account.

Among them, at least 90 are seriously injured. Hundreds of rescuers have been dispatched to the scene, local authorities said, and some 4,000 people have been evacuated from the blast site.

Local authorities, who are investigating the cause of the accident, said an unspecified number of people were taken into police custody on Friday.

The facility involved in the explosion belonged to Tianjiayi Chemical, a firm with 195 employees established in 2007 that mainly produces raw chemical materials, including anisole, a highly flammable compound.

Tianjiayi Chemical has a history of violating environmental regulations, according to online records from Yancheng city's environment and ecology bureau.

In 2015 and 2017, the firm was fined for violating rules on solid and water waste management.

In the aftermath of the explosion, several residents said they were concerned about pollution from the industrial accident.

"We don't have drinkable water here," said one 60-year-old woman surnamed Xiang. "Why hasn't the government sent us some water?"

She said she had harboured concerns about safety and pollution at the site for a long time.

According to a report released on Friday by Jiangsu province's ecology and environment department, several rivers near the blast site are contaminated with chemicals, including chloroform and dichloromethane.

On the road where Xiang lived, consisting of basic two-storey homes, almost all the windows and some window frames were blown in.

The woman was sitting at home when the explosion occurred and said the force rocked her house and badly damaged her front door.

There was no immediate government help, she said, and residents were clearing the street themselves.

"I have no one to help me here," said a grandmother and single mum surnamed Wang.

Images broadcast on local media showed how the blast toppled factory buildings, trapping workers inside. State broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers pulling a survivor from the wreckage.

Workers covered in blood were seen running out of the factory, said Xinhua on Thursday, citing witnesses.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze on Friday after battling raging flames through the night. Three chemical tanks and five other areas had been on fire. (AFP)