The blast in Yancheng north of Shanghai is the latest in a series of industrial accidents that have sparked public anger

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

An explosion at a pesticide plant in eastern China has killed at least 47 people and injured more than 600, state media said, the latest in a series of industrial accidents that has sparked widespread public anger.

The blast occurred on shortly before 3pm on Thursday afternoon in Yancheng in Jiangsu province, north of Shanghai.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Police help an injured man after the explosion in Yancheng. Photograph: VCG/VCG via Getty Images

The fire was not brought under control until the early hours of Friday, state television said.

Survivors were taken to 16 hospitals with 640 people being treated for injuries. Thirty-two of them were critically injured, it said.

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The explosion at the plant owned by Tianjiayi Chemical sent fire spreading to neighbouring factories. Children at a kindergarten in the vicinity were also injured in the blast, media reported.

The cause of the blast was under investigation, but the company – which produces more than 30 organic chemical compounds, some of which are highly flammable – has been cited and fined for work safety violations in the past, the China Daily said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Smoke billows from fire behind a damaged building following an explosion at the pesticide plant in Yancheng. Photograph: China Stringer Network/Reuters

The Jiangsu environmental protection bureau said in a statement late on Thursday that the environmental monitoring station in the area had found no abnormal concentrations of toluene, xylene or benzene.

Concentrations of acetone and chloroform outside the perimeter of the explosion zone were also within normal limits, it added.

Jiangsu will launch inspections on chemical producers and warehouses, according to an emergency notice published by official media on Friday.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Firefighters work at the site on Thursday night. Photograph: China Stringer Network/Reuters

The notice, published on the news website of Jiangsu Communist party, said the government would shut down any chemical firms found not complying with regulations on dangerous chemicals.

Public anger over safety standards has grown in China over industrial accidents ranging from mining disasters to factory fires that have marred three decades of swift economic growth.

In 2015, 165 people were killed in a series of explosions at a chemical warehouse in the northern city of Tianjin.

The explosions at Tianjin, one of the world’s busiest ports and not far from the capital, Beijing, were big enough to be seen by satellites and register on earthquake sensors.

Despite repeated pledges by the government to tighten safety, chemical plants in particular have been plagued by disasters.

In November, a series of blasts during the delivery of a flammable gas at a chemical manufacturer killed 23 people.