China Chemical Plant Blast Kills 47, Injures Hundreds More

CHINA, (BLOOMBERG), MARCH 22, 2019 - Beijing (AP) -- A massive explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China with a long record of safety violations has killed at least 47 people and injured hundreds of others, 90 of them seriously.

Thursday’s blast in an industrial park in the city of Yancheng, north of Shanghai, was one of China’s worst industrial accidents in recent years. State-run television showed crushed cars, blown out windows and workers leaving the factory with bloodied heads.

Schools were closed and nearly 1,000 residents were moved to safety as a precaution against leaks and additional explosions, the city government said in a statement posted to its microblog.

The blast created a crater and more than 900 firefighters were deployed to extinguish the fire that burned into the night.

Windows in buildings as far as about Fire and smoke rises at an explosion site in Yancheng, on March 21 (Afp/getty Images)

6 kilometers (4 miles) away were blown out by the force of the blast, which caused a magnitude 2.2 seismic shock.

A resident of the community of Chenjiagang about 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) from the plant, said neighbors were injured by glass from windows smashed by the blast force.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, on a state visit to Italy, demanded “all-out efforts” to find and rescue victims, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.