At least 12 people died and more than 300 were injured by a powerful explosion triggered when a chemical pipeline ignited in eastern China yesterday, state media said.
Footage broadcast on state television showed a billowing column of flame and a plume of thick black smoke drifting over the city of Nanjing after the blast, which toppled nearby factory buildings.
The blast occurred in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, shortly after 10am and caused heavy damage to the surrounding area, reports said.
PHOTO: AFP
Hospitals evacuated rooms to make room for the injured, Xinhua news agency said, adding that many hospitals had almost exhausted their blood stocks and local residents were rushing to mobile collection vehicles to donate blood.
“Many residents have been injured and sent to hospitals, we urgently need a lot of blood,” the Jiangsu provincial blood center appealed on its Web site.
Xinhua said its reporters had seen 12 people recorded as dead at nearby hospitals. State television quoted Nanjing officials as confirming only five deaths.
The toll could have been much higher, but the explosion occurred on the grounds of an abandoned plastics factory when a pipeline carrying ethylene blew up, according to reports.
The blast also blew out windows and caused damage to businesses and residences up to 300m away, while people further away fled their buildings, thinking an earthquake had struck.
More than 300 people were rushed to local hospitals for treatment, including 52 with serious injuries, the China News Service said. State television put the injured at more than 100, 28 of them seriously.
The explosion hit a bus passing through the area, injuring many passengers, Xinhua said.
Photos on the Internet showed at least one bus that had been completely burnt out, leaving only a charred skeleton.
“There are dozens of injured in our hospital. Their situations are not serious, most of them suffered burns,” said a doctor at the city’s Zhongda hospital, who refused to identify herself. “Nobody has died in our hospital. There are injured people in every big hospital in Nanjing.”
Firefighters brought the blaze under control four hours after the blast, Xinhua said.
Officials who answered telephone calls at the Nanjing health department and city government would not comment. An official from the local Communist Propaganda Department said a statement would be released later.
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