Yancheng Blast Toll Rises To 47 Dead, 640 Injured

The death toll from a huge explosion at a chemical plant in Jiangsu province surged to 47 on Friday, making it one of the country's worst industrial accidents in recent years.

The official news agency Xinhua cited officials as saying 640 people were injured – 90 seriously – in Thursday afternoon's blast at the industrial park in Yancheng.

City officials had previously said that at least 12 people were killed and 30 injured in the explosion.

The explosion was so powerful that it apparently triggered a small earthquake, knocked down several factory buildings and shattered the windows of homes a few kilometres away. Xinhua said some workers were trapped in the collapsed buildings, while others were seen running out of the factory covered in blood after the blast.

Hundreds of rescuers have been dispatched to the scene of the facility run by Tianjiayi Chemical, local authorities said, and more than 3,000 people have been evacuated from the blast site.

Authorities, who are investigating the cause of the accident, said an unspecified number of people were taken into police custody.

The force of the explosion blew out windows and dented metal garage doors of buildings as far as four kilometres from the site, reporters at the scene said.

Nearby residents have started sweeping up glass, and in some cases, seemed to have abandoned their homes entirely. Black smoke could still be seen rising from the chemical plant on Friday morning.

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.

An aerial view of the blast area showed a large swath of destruction in the industrial park, where multiple fires had initially raged.

The city government said fires in three chemical tanks and five other blazes in the area were extinguished. (AFP)

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