A large explosion rocked a chemical plant in eastern China on Tuesday, spewing a towering plume of gray and orange smoke into the sky, damaging windows in nearby buildings and prompting local authorities to launch a rescue operation.
The blast took place in the workshop of Shandong Youdao Chemical in Gaomi city, Shandong province minutes before noon local time, with rescue and medical efforts currently underway, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The CCTV report did not give a reason for the blast. There were no immediate reports of casualties in state media.
Videos circulating on Chinese social media showed gray and orange smoke billowing upwards, engulfing buildings in an industrial park. Windows in some nearby low-rise buildings were damaged, the footage showed.
The local fire and rescue services dispatched 55 vehicles and 232 personnel to the scene, while the Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched a working group and rescue reinforcements, the ministry said in a statement.
A staff member working at a hotel some 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) from the blast site said she heard the explosion around noon.
“The sound was quite loud with a bang. It only lasted for a moment,” she told CNN, adding that the hotel did not suffer any damage.
Another worker at a factory about 6 kilometers from the blast site said she heard a boom and felt a shake and “a strong gust of wind.”
“A strong gust of airflow scared me so much that I didn’t dare leave my office,” said the worker, surnamed Meng. “The doors and windows in (my) factory were damaged… The airflow rushed in through the window, and if I had been a bit closer, it might have thrown me against the wall.”
Shandong Youdao Chemical is owned by Himile Group, which also owns listed Himile Mechanical, shares of which were down nearly 4% on Tuesday afternoon, according to Reuters.
Founded in August 2019, Shandong Youdao Chemical occupies more than 46 hectares of land in the Gaomi Renhe chemical park and employs more than 300 people, according to the company’s website.
It develops, produces and sells pesticides, pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates, the website says.
In 2015 a series of blasts at a chemical warehouse in the northeastern city of Tianjin killed more than 100 people and sent toxic fumes into the air.
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