Last updated March 21 2019, 20.20 China local time

Update: The Day After the Explosion

On March 21st at about 14.48 local time, an explosion occurred at a chemical plant in Yancheng city in Jiangsu.

At time of writing, the news has become a top trending topic on social media site Weibo, where the hashtag “Jiangsu Yancheng Chemical Plant Explosion” (#江苏盐城化工厂爆炸#) has attracted some 100 million views.

The explosion, that occurred at the Xiangshui Eco-chemical Industrial Zone, was followed by a 2.2 earthquake at 14.48 local time in Jiangsu’s Lianyungang.

According to Sixth Tone, people who have been injured during the incident have been sent to a local hospital.

Footage published by WeMedia show the impact of the massive explosion, with shattered windows from buildings in the area, and showing at least one injured person lying on the street.

Other videos on social media show injured people lining up at the hospital, chaos, and wounded people lying on the street (Twitter link here and here).

According to the official account of China’s Fire Control Department (@中国消防), 31 persons were rescued from the scene around 17.00 local time, when a total of 188 firefighters were present at the scene.

Footage published by WeMedia show the impact of the Jiangsu Yancheng chemical plant explosion that occurred around 14.00 local time – https://t.co/pXM7Eg6Jf6 pic.twitter.com/LEL36M30z5 — Manya Koetse (@manyapan) 21 maart 2019

According to various media reports, the chemical plant where the explosion happened is the Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Plant (天嘉宜化工厂). The official website says that the Tianjiayi company was founded in 2007 and has over 280 staff members.

China’s Emergency Management Department (@中华人民共和国应急管理部), that was established in 2018, issued a post on Weibo at the beginning of the evening, stating that expert teams were rushed to the scene to assist local authorities in their rescue operations.

This is not the first time such an explosion makes headlines in China. In 2015, an enormous explosion at a petrol storage station in Tianjin injured hundreds of people. Two years ago, an explosion at a Shandong petrochemical plant left 8 persons dead and 9 people injured.

Chinese state media outlet Xinhua reported that the number of casualties at the Yancheng site are still unknown. Phoenix News reports that as of 19.00 local time, at least 6 people are confirmed to have died, with 30 people being critically injured. (UPDATE MARCH 22 SEE HERE).

On Weibo, people are sharing their concern for the people injured during the explosions, and are also expressing their worries on what exactly caused the explosion and what kind of chemicals people may have been exposed to.

“There are many residential areas and schools near the site of the explosion,” one official account on Weibo writes: “There’s a kindergarten some 1,1 kilometers away, and children have been injured. According to eyewitnesses, residents were injured because of the glass flying around.”

It is reported that there are residential areas and 7 schools in the vicinity of where the Yancheng explosion happened, people have been injured because of glass that was "flying around," eyewitnesses said. pic.twitter.com/LYYNQgwLl4 — Manya Koetse (@manyapan) 21 maart 2019

Sina News reports that there are at least seven schools in the vicinity of the explosion (see image below).

More videos making their rounds showing the impact of today's explosion in Yancheng, Jiangsu. Cannot confirm if this footage indeed is Yancheng, there are also older videos/images resurfacing now. pic.twitter.com/2Rtwvq3Tu9 — Manya Koetse (@manyapan) 21 maart 2019

A live-streaming report by Tencent News, Beijing News, and WeMedia shows that at around 20.00 local time, the fire at the site of the explosion is still blazing, with a strong wind picking up.

Meanwhile, on Weibo, some netizens are complaining that footage of the explosion is being deleted from the social media platform, while others are disgruntled that residential areas and schools would be located so close to a chemical plant.

“I really wish the people there are safe and sound,” dozens of commenters say, posting praying emoji: “It is just so scary, I hope there won’t be any more casualties.”

By Manya Koetse

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