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At least 12 dead in blast at China factory

By Royston Chan
NANJING | Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:28am EDT

NANJING China (Reuters) - At least 12 people died and 15 were seriously injured on Wednesday after an explosion at an abandoned plastics and chemicals factory in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, state television said.

The blast flattened buildings within a 100-meter radius, strewing rubble over the ground, and struck a passing bus, on which many passengers were injured. Pictures showed flames leaping from the site and towering over a nearby three-storey building, with a column of dark smoke rising into the sky.

Windows shattered in buildings up to 3 km (1.9 miles) from the scene of the accident. "When it happened, I was just there in my shop. There was a loud bang and I saw that the fire was so big," said witness Lao Yan, 47. "When the explosion happened, everything fell and the door fell on my head and my clothes were all torn." Others said they were lucky to be alive.

"If I had come out later by just one or two minutes from the lane, it might be that I will not be here alive," said Ye Kai, 25, speaking from hospital where he was being treated for minor injuries. "When I drove out of the lane, I smelt something that I could not identify.

When I just drove across the road and got out of the car, the explosion happened. The car was damaged, the front windshield was shattered." Rescue workers have bought the fire under control and are combing debris, looking for the injured or dead, state news agency Xinhua said.

Xinhua said an initial investigation showed the explosion, in the city's northern Qixia district, was caused by a gas leak. Previously, an official from state-owned oil giant Sinopec said the facility was a local liquefied petroleum gas plant. A nearby Sinopec petrol station was unaffected, he said.

(Writing by Tom Miles and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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Local residents carry a man injured during an explosion at a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, July 28, 2010.




A view shows a fire burning at the explosion site of a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




Firefighters extinguish a fire after an explosion at a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.

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A man who was injured during an explosion gestures in front of a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




The site of an explosion site is seen at a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




Fire burns at an explosion site at a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.

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Damaged houses are seen after an explosion at a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




Residents and a firefighter (2nd L) carry a man injured during an explosion at a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




Residents and a firefighter (back C) carry a man injured during an explosion at a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.

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Firefighters rush to the explosion site of a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




A resident (front) collects his belongings after an explosion at a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




Fire burns at the explosion site at a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.

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Paramilitary policemen block a street near the explosion site of a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




A view shows a street close to the explosion site of a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




Residents sit near broken pieces of glass in a restaurant near the explosion
site of a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.

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Damaged houses are seen near the explosion site of a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




Firefighters stand next to the wreckage of a vehicle near the explosion site of a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




A policeman stands guard on a street near the explosion site of a plastics factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.




A resident uses his mobile phone near the explosion site of a plastics
factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu province July 28, 2010.

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A bus is completely burned by the blaze caused by an explosion at a plastics factory on Mufu East Road,
Qixia district in northern Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, July 28, 2010.




A sedan is totally burned out by the blaze caused by an explosion at a plastics factory in
Qixia district of northern Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, July 28, 2010.




Firefighters rally to put out the fire caused by an explosion at a plastics
factory in northern Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, July 28, 2010.




The blaze is still going after the explosion at a plastics factory in northern
Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, July 28, 2010.