Welding gear sparks chemical plant blast

A tank containing a toxic liquid exploded at a chemical plant in Jiangdu city, Jiangsu province, but no casualties were reported.

The director of the city's environmental protection bureau told the South China Morning Post that welding equipment ignited a storage tank of acrylonitrile at the Jiangdu Chemical Plant in Dinghuo Township at 10am on Thursday.

Acrylonitrile is used in the manufacture of plastics and rubber, and can induce vomiting, coma or even death.

Dinghuo resident Tao Jun said the blast shattered windows in homes up to 50 metres from the plant.

But he did not see or hear of anybody injured in the incident.

'The sound of the explosion was really huge. And the fire was up to 10 metres high,' Mr Tao said.