1 killed in Taiwan chemical plant blast

TAIPEI - A worker was killed and another injured when a chemical plant exploded and caught fire in a suburb of Taichung in central Taiwan Monday morning.

The local fire department received a report of fire and explosion at a pesticide plant owned bu Sinon Corporation at 5:50 a.m. and sent 10 fire trucks and two ambulances to the scene.

"We found two people with burns, one showing no signs of life. Both were taken to hospital," said fire department spokesman Tseng Chin-tsai.

The injured man suffered burns to about 20 percent of his body, but was fully conscious and remains in hospital.

The fire was out by 10:20 a.m.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, but the fire department found chemicals including methanol, xylene and butanol at the scene.