The death toll from a huge explosion that rocked a gas plant in central China rose to 12, state media said yesterday, with three people still missing.
Friday’s blast at the Henan Coal Gas (Group) Co (河南省煤氣集團) factory left another 13 people seriously wounded and more with light injuries, Xinhua news agency said.
The blast occurred in the air separation unit of Henan Coal’s factory, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said, with Xinhua saying a device in the factory exploded at 5:45pm on Friday. All production at the plant had been stopped.
Photo: AFP
More than 270 rescuers were on the scene searching for the missing people, Xinhua said, citing the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management.
“Many windows and doors within a 3km radius were shattered, and some interior doors were also blown out by the blast,” CCTV said on a Chinese microblogging site.
Local media showed amateur videos of a massive column of black smoke billowing from the factory and debris littering the roads.
Other images showed the doors and windows of homes blown out, and shuttered shops with dented metal fronts.
A bloodied man was seen being helped out of a van in a video shared on social media.
The authenticity of the footage could not be immediately verified.
Deadly industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced.
In March, a blast at a chemical plant in eastern Jiangsu Province killed 78 people and injured hundreds.
The powerful explosion in the eastern city of Yancheng toppled several buildings in an industrial park, blew out windows of nearby homes and even dented metal garage doors.
Authorities detained two dozen people in connection with the blast, which prompted the government to order a nationwide inspection of chemical firms.
A week after that explosion, seven people died following a blast at an electronics component manufacturer in the same province.
In November last year, a gas leak at a plant in the northern city of Zhangjiakou — which is to host the 2022 Winter Olympics — killed 24 people and injured 21 others.
Leaked chloroethylene came into contact with a fire source causing the explosion, authorities said in a report in February.
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