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 Residents and rescue workers carry an injured man to safety on Wednesday following a powerful explosion caused by gas leak at a plastic factory in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province. Wang Chengbing / for China Daily |
NANJING - At least 10 people were killed and more than 100 were injured on Wednesday morning during a powerful explosion caused by gas leak at a factory in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, local officials said.
Officials of the government of Nanjing said during an evening press conference that among the injured, 14 were seriously hurt after the blast ripped through an abandoned plastics factory in northern Nanjing.
More than 120 have been taken to hospitals, the officials added.
State broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday evening, however, that at least 12 people died and that the death toll might continue to climb.
Local media, on the other hand, reported that more than 300 people had been sent to hospitals, and that at least 50 people were seriously injured.
The blast took place at around 9:30 am after a construction crew dismantling factory buildings of the Nanjing No 4 Plastics Factory caused a gas leak by rupturing an adjacent propylene pipeline, according to a statement from the State Administration of Work Safety, citing a report from its Jiangsu branch.
Local officials said on Wednesday evening that the driver of the excavator, who directly ruptured the pipeline, had been detained.
The explosion itself took place when a motorist started a car engine at the scene, igniting the leaking gas, officials said.
The pipeline, transporting propylene to the factory, had been shut down, they added.
Propylene is a colorless, flammable gas with a weak but distinctively unpleasant smell. It is the raw material for a wide variety of products including polypropylene, a versatile polymer used in packaging and other applications.
According to the administration, the factory had been relocated and the land was planned for property development.
Local residents said they felt a tremor and heard a loud noise as the explosion occurred, and many fled from buildings fearing an earthquake.
Witnesses described to China Daily how a huge column of flame and a plume of thick black smoke wafted over the city of Nanjing after the blast. People within a radius of 2 kilometers of the factory could feel a strong shock wave.
Zhang Rulin, a retired teacher who lives about 800 meters from the explosion site, said he was reading on a sofa when the explosive force bounced him off.
"My first reaction was it must be an earthquake, but I found the house was not shaking," Zhang told China Daily.
"But almost in the next second, I heard all the windows of my house apartment falling, smashed."
Zhang's house, like many of others', was severely damaged, with things falling over everywhere.
Media reports said a man was hit by a falling ceiling when he was sleeping at home. He died in the hospital.
More than 200 police, firefighters and other rescue personnel rushed to the scene after the explosion.
A total of 36 ambulances, meanwhile, ferried the injured from the plant to hospitals and by late afternoon government officials said the blaze was "under control" and that the plant was no longer a danger.
According to local media, some hospitals had to evacuate rooms with patients with less serious conditions to treat burn victims or people hurt by flying glass.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
China Daily
