Explosion at eastern China chemical plant kills 1

The latest explosion happened less than two weeks after deadly blasts at a chemical storage facility rocked the port city of Tianjin, killing more than 123 people, including firefighters, and injuring hundreds more.

The top official in Tianjin has pledged to relocate the chemical plants in Tianjin Binhai New Area after last week’s fatal blasts.

City authorities have said that air and water quality outside the blast zone was in the normal range.

Within minutes of the blast, photos and videos of a fire set off by the blast appeared on Chinese social media, with many people complaining about the chemical factories in their midst and the pollution such plants produce.

Also stored at the site, the AP added, were other risky chemicals, like ammonium nitrate and potassium nitrate, used for explosives and fireworks, respectively.

On Sunday, the Tianjin city government announced on its microblog account that the death toll in that disaster had been raised to 123.

Large quantities of hazardous chemicals were stored at the site, officials have said, including about 700,000kg of highly poisonous sodium cyanide, a white powder or crystal which can give off lethal hydrogen cyanide gas.

Three fires reported last week were at the core of the explosion site, while a fourth was at an automobile distribution center nearby and could have been caused by a burning fuel tank, Xinhua said.

The immediate surroundings of the blast site have been closed off, and Tian noted that tests of water outside that area showed that cyanide levels were normal.

The cause of the explosion is still unknown, and the area is still under investigation.

It is believed that the owner of the Ruihai global Logistics Company warehouse at the centre of the explosion remains in custody with nine other men.

The laws state that enormous warehouses which retailer harmful chemical compounds must be at the least 1,000 meters from public buildings and transportation networks, media stated.

The explosion triggered a fire and a dozen fire engines were battling the blaze.