Blast in China Kills At Least 13: Reporting Restricted, Conflicting Accounts

People carry a wounded man from the site of an explosion at a plastics factory in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province on July 28, 2010. (AFP/Getty Images)

[ Explosion ripped through a factory in Nanjing - NTDTV ]

An explosion in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province yesterday was reported to have killed 13 people. The blast shattered windows and cut off the telecommunication system in surrounding communities. Local media were prevented from live reporting.

Sources differ on the precise time of the explosion. In a report that was later stripped from the Internet, Chen Guangbiao, chairman of Jiangsu Huangpu Renewable Resources Utilization Co Ltd. told China National Radio that at 9:57 a.m. on July 28, a huge explosion took place at a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) factory in Qixia District of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. He said the blast could be felt throughout the city, explaining that he was 300 meters (0.2 miles) away from the location of the first explosion.

Other state-run media, including Xinhua, reported that the explosion took place at 10:10 a.m. at a nearby plastics manufacturing plant.

Soon after the first blast Nanjing residents uploaded photos and comments on the Internet describing the explosion. Some people thought there had been an earthquake. In some office buildings windows were shattered and ceiling boards had come down. The powerful blast could be felt as far away as 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). Available photos show immense destruction to the factory and surrounding area.

Chen told China National Radio, “It felt like the earth trembled and the mountains shook. All glass on our heavy machinery and in many buildings in the area was shattered. In addition there was another explosion at a plastics manufacturing plant in Qixia. Polyethylene and gas pipelines run underneath the plant. I don’t know which of them had exploded, but there was a very strong odor at the scene.”

Several Nanjing residents told The Epoch Times that at least 100 people had been burnt to death by the liquefied petroleum gas explosion. One man, who said he was an eyewitness, claimed that up to 170 people may have died.

Local residents also indicated that the LPG factory explosion caused a series of blasts at nearby factories. One of these factories employs nearly 100 workers. After the explosion, none came out, they said. These claims were not confirmed in other media reports.

Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that soon after the explosion a reporter from a Jiangsu TV Station broadcast a live report. The broadcast, however, was cut short by a Chinese official who was later identified as Ye Hao of the Nanjing Municipal Propaganda Department.

Ye questioned the reporter: “Who gave you the permission to conduct a live broadcast?”

Reluctantly, the reporter stopped the broadcast. The official death toll stands at 13, and state media are now reporting intensively on the rescue efforts.

Read the original Chinese article.