At least five workers were killed in Tuesday’s explosion at a chemical facility in eastern China, and six more are still unaccounted for, according to state media.
According to the Xinhua news agency, the explosion happened at the Youdao Chemical facility in Gaomi, a town in Shandong province about 450 kilometers southeast of the capital Beijing, at around 12 p.m. local time.
A fire in an industrial area, a massive column of grey smoke billowing into the sky, and shop windows that appeared to have been blown out by the explosion were all seen on camera by the Beijing newspaper Xinjingbao.
According to local officials cited by Xinhua, the tragedy “left five people dead, six missing, and 19 lightly injured”.
