Developing | Chinese chemical factory blast kills 23, injures 22
- Investigation under way into explosion overnight in Hebei, which local officials say was caused by a vehicle carrying dangerous chemicals
- Witnesses describe ‘fireball’ engulfing 50 vehicles
Twenty-three people were killed and 22 others injured in an explosion near a chemical factory in Zhangjiakou in the northern Chinese province of Hebei early on Wednesday, local authorities said.
The fire was contained, and search and rescue teams went to work after the blast at about 12.41am, according to a post on the Zhangjiakou government’s Weibo page.
The injured were taken to hospitals for treatment, and investigators were looking into the cause of the explosion, the city government’s post said.
Officials said the explosion erupted near the Hebei Shenghua Chemical plant in the city’s Qiaodong district, and the fire engulfed 38 lorries and 12 cars.
The Zhangjiakou Administration of Work Safety said the fire broke out after a vehicle carrying acetylene exploded as it waited to enter the premises of Haiboer New Energy, next to the Shenghua plant, Xinhua news agency reported.
Haiboer New Energy is the major hydrogen producer for Zhangjiakou’s 74 hydrogen cell buses.
