Fire at Jingjiang chemical storage finally controlled early morning following all-day blaze and blasts
Among the 42 tanks at the storage, 12 are gasoline tanks, the rest 30 contain dangerous chemicals
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The fire at a Jingjiang facility storing chemicals and fuel was fully put out early Saturday morning after blazing all day, Chinese media reported.
No casualties were reported from the fire that began Friday around 9.40am and the subsequent explosions, the Jingjiang government confirmed on its microblog.
Among the 42 tanks at the storage, 12 are gasoline tanks, the rest 30 contain dangerous chemicals including alcohol and lipid, according to Xinhua.
The blast recalled huge explosions caused by improper storage of chemicals in the northern city of Tianjin last August, when at least 165 people were killed and fears were raised of toxic contamination.
The blaze was finally put out at around 1am Saturday morning, Xinhua reported.
Some 400 firefighters were dispatched to put out the blaze, fed by petrol storage tanks on the site, the fire department under the Ministry of Public Security said on its microblog.
Jingjiang, in the eastern province of Jiangsu,is located near the north bank of the Yangtze river about 150 kilometres (93 miles) from commercial hub Shanghai.
One photo posted online showed dark clouds of smoke with the fire burning amid what appeared to be storage tanks.
Fire broke out at a warehouse storing chemical products in E #China on Frihttps://t.co/GfiHgl15VQhttps://t.co/bwb7Mi7l3X— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) April 22, 2016
The accident was at the premises of a company called Jiangsu Deqiao Storage, which is authorised to keep hazardous chemicals and fuel, reports said.
Its parent is a Singapore-listed company called Hengyang Petrochemical Logistics. Deqiao’s facilities include storage tanks and shipping berths on the Yangtze River, according to Hengyang’s website.
Industrial accidents are common in China where safety standards are often lax.
But the massive blast in Tianjin sparked widespread anger over a perceived lack of transparency by officials about its causes and environmental impact.
The blast, which caused over $1 billion in damages, was caused by improper chemical storage by a company called Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics, which managed to evade safety laws.
