Huge Blast Rocks China Gas Plant, 'many Injured': State Media

A huge explosion rocked a gas plant in central China on Friday, causing many injuries and shattering windows and doors of buildings in a three-kilometre radius, state media said

Beijing, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jul, 2019 ) :A huge explosion rocked a gas plant in central China on Friday, causing many injuries and shattering windows and doors of buildings in a three-kilometre radius, state media said.

The number of casualties was not immediately known following the blast in Henan province, but official news agency Xinhua said "many people" were injured at the site of the explosion with two people so far unaccounted for.

The blast rocked the Yima gasification plant in Sanmenxia at 5:50 pm local time (0950 GMT).

"Many windows and doors within a three-kilometre radius were shattered, and some interior doors were also blown out by the blast," state broadcaster CCTV said on its Twitter-like Weibo social media account.

Local media showed amateur videos of a massive column of black smoke billowing from the factory and debris littering roads.

Other images showed the doors and windows of homes blown out and shuttered shops with dented metal fronts.

A bloodied man was seen being helped out of a van in a video posted on social media.

AFP could not immediately verify the authenticity of the footage.

Deadly industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced.