At least 69 dead, 150 injured in E China factory blast

(chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-08-02 11:04

Residents rush to donate blood after deadly blast in Kunshan.

Massive factory blast kills 65 in E China

Workplace safety

According to the State Administration of Work Safety, it investigated 44 serious workplace accidents and about 300 people were prosecuted for violating workplace safety laws in 2013.

One of the most shocking accidents was a pipeline explosion in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao in November that claimed 62 lives. Altogether, 63 people have been punished for the accident, including 15 being prosecuted.

Campaign to address work safety

The blast in Kunshan happened asChina's work safety authority announced in July to run a nationwide work safety inspection campaign from August to the end of December to prevent accidents.

A powerful blast ripped through a factory in Kunshan City of east China's Jiangsu Province on Saturday morning, killing at least 65 people and injuring more than 150 others, government sources said.

Xinhua News Agency says the blast happened at around 7:37 a.m. inside a wheel hub polishing workshop owned by the Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products Co., Ltd.

An initial probe indicated that the explosion might be caused by flames igniting dusts, the Ministry of Public Security said via its official weibo microblog site.

Officials are working on rescue efforts and providing medical treatment.

Five medical experts from Shanghai are on their way to the explosion site.

Kunshan govenrment also urged people to donate blood of all types at four blood-collection centers, the local government's media office said on Weibo.

State broadcaster CCTV showed footage shot by residents of large plumes of thick, black smoke rising from the plant. Several firefighting trucks were shown in the factory compound. News websites posted photos showing survivors or victims being lifted onto the back of large trucks, their bodies black presumably from burns or being covered in soot.

Some survivors were seen sitting on wooden cargo platforms on the road outside the factory, their clothes apparently burned off and skin exposed or being carried into ambulances.

Located about halfway between Shanghai to the east and Suzhou to the west, Kunshan city is the eastern gateway of Jiangsu province and was once known as "a town for fish and rice."