China gas plant blast: death toll rises to 15 as three more bodies found

Authorities in central China said on Sunday that the death toll from an explosion at a gas plant has risen to 15 with another 15 seriously injured.

Three people who were previously missing have been found dead, local authorities said.

About 270 firefighters and rescuers have completed three rounds of search and rescue since the blast on Friday evening in the city of Yima in Henan province, China’s emergency management ministry said.

The blast shattered windows 3km (1.9 miles) away and knocked off doors inside buildings, according to earlier state media reports.

Xinhua said the explosion happened in the air separation unit at a factory owned by Henan Coal Gas Group. All production at the plant has been halted, it said.