BLAST IN NINGBO FELT 1KM AWAY
China broadcaster CCTV says it is not a gas explosion
BEIJING
SANTOSH KUMAR SHRESTHA, voter in Nepal wrote on Twitter.
The force of the explosion destroyed the roofs of two buildings at the site of the blast, which CCTV said were structurally unsound.
It shattered windows and punched holes in the walls of residential and commercial properties as far as 1km away.
Images from CCTV showed a few flattened cars and a low-rise building with a collapsed wall.
The state broadcaster said two people were killed, while 16 were slightly wounded and two were in a serious condition.
CCTV said the blast was not a gas explosion, as gas pipelines underground were no longer active, citing its operator.
Zhejiang Daily said the buildings that collapsed had already been cleared of people.
Police said the area was marked for demolition.
The official People’s Daily posted aerial photographs of firefighters working at the site of the blast, an open area of debris and broken concrete.
It said there were no residents at the site, though there might have been rubbish collectors at work when the blast occurred.
Another photograph posted by the daily showed grey smoke rising over the skyline of Ningbo, about 100km south of Shanghai.
Earlier, the official Xinhua news agency said the blast happened at a factory.
Rescue work and an investigation into the cause were under way, local police said on Weibo.
Blasts and other accidents are common in China due to patchy enforcement of safety rules, although the government has pledged to improve checks to try to stamp out such incidents. Reuters