65 dead, 150 injured in Kunshan factory blast

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-08-02

Firefighters at the scene of the blast, Aug. 2. (Photo/Xinhua)

A devastating factory blast killed 65 people and injured over 100 others in Kunshan in east China's Jiangsu province on Saturday morning, government sources said.

The blast happened at 7:37am inside a wheel hub polishing workshop owned by the Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products Co, the city government said.

People injured in the blast are brought
to stretchers outside the factory, Aug. 2.
(Photo/Xinhua)

More than 200 workers were at the site when the explosion happened. Rescuers pulled out over 40 bodies at the site while about 20 others died in hospitals.

An initial probe indicated that the explosion may have been caused by dust inside the workshop, officials said.

Photos circulated on social networking sites showed the charred bodies of victims placed on trucks or lying in front of the factory as plumes of black smoke billowed from the factory. Other photos showed hospitals crowed with patients with burns.

Local health authorities said most of the injured suffered burns and have been treated in hospitals in Kunshan and the nearby cities of Suzhou and Wuxi.

Seven doctors and nurses specializing in burns at Shanghai's Ruijin Hospital have arrived in Kunshan to aid local hospitals now "crowded with injured patients," according to the hospital.

The site has been cleared and further investigation is underway.

The injured being taken to the hospital for treatment,

Aug. 3. (Photo/Xinhua)

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