Rescuers pulled a survivor from rubble early on Saturday in the wake of a massive explosion at a pesticide plant in eastern China that flattened buildings, blew out windows more than a mile away and killed at least 64 people.
Officials said more than two dozen people were still missing and hundreds had been injured in Thursday’s blast at the Chenjiagang Industrial Park in the city of Yancheng, in Jiangsu province on China’s east coast.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation, but an editorial in the China Daily newspaper speculated it was likely to be identified as “a serious accident caused by human negligence”.
The company, Tianjiayi Chemical Co – which produces more than 30 organic chemical compounds, some highly flammable – had been cited and fined for work safety violations in the past, the China Daily had reported.