Industrial Park Explosion In China Kills 47, Injures 90; Rescue Efforts On 

An industrial park explosion on Thursday (21 March) in east China's Jiangsu Province killed 47 and seriously injured 90, reports Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The explosion took place at 2:48 pm following a fire that broke out in a chemical factory located in an industrial park in Xiangshui County of Yancheng city. Due to the explosion that affected 16 surrounding enterprises, 640 people were reported to be currently receiving hospital treatment, including 32 in critical condition and 58 others with serious injuries.

According to local authorities, around 930 firefighters and more than 190 vehicles were dispatched to the scene as part of the rescue operation. More than 3,000 workers in the industrial zone and nearly 1,000 residents living nearby have been shifted to safer locations.

According to Xinhua, Chinese state-run news agency, President Xi Jinping has asked for “all-out efforts to search those were trapped, and the injured must be timely treated and relief work must be well done to maintain social stability.”

“Xi ordered that the causes of the accident must be identified as early as possible and that authoritative information should be timely released,” the agency added.

Repeated Instances

This is not the first time that an industrial accident has occurred in China in recent times. In 2015, an explosion at a hazardous-chemicals warehouse killed 173 people in the northeastern port city of Tianjin. Another blast that occurred in November (2018) was caused by a leak from a state-run petrochemical plant in Xuanhua county, killing 23 people.

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