Wednesday, December 31, 2014

South China factory blast kills 17 and injures 20

Gas explosion at auto parts factory kills 17, injures 33 in southern China

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, an ambulance waits outside the site of a gas explosion at the Fuhua Engineering and Manufacturing Co. factory in Foshan city, south China's Guangdong Province Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Liang Xu) NO SALES

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, an ambulance waits outside the site of a gas explosion at the Fuhua Engineering and Manufacturing Co. factory in Foshan city, south China's Guangdong Province Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Liang Xu) 

BEIJING, China - A gas explosion at an auto parts factory in southern China killed 17 people and injured 33 others on Wednesday, state media reported.

Three of the injured were in critical condition, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The Southern Metropolis Daily said witnesses heard three blasts at the Fuhua Engineering and Manufacturing Co. factory in Foshan city. The blasts destroyed the facility's walls and ceiling and also damaged a nearby glass factory and other plants.

Pictures on the newspaper's website showed panels blown off the building's structure and people lying injured on the ground. Xinhua said the factory was closed for cleaning at the time of the blast

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South China factory blast kills 17 and injures 20


A powerful blast in a factory in the southern Chinese city of Foshan has killed at least 17 people and injured 20 others.

The explosion took place at about 09:40 am local time at the Fuhua Machinery Plant. The injured have been taken to the First People's Hospital in Shunde and some of them are said to be in critical condition.

Thick smoke billows from the facility following the explosion as rescue measures were underway.

Other facilities in the same vicinity have also been damaged.

The cause of the blast remains unknown, but locals say that the natural gas pipeline could have exploded, resulting in the spread of fire.