Cargo truck blast destroys warehouse, killing 4 and injuring dozens

Source:Global Times Published: 2013-9-10 22:53:01


 

A rescuer walks among the debris from an explosion in the Ezhangtan area of Baiyun district, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province on Tuesday. Photo: CFP

A rescuer walks among the debris from an explosion in the Ezhangtan area of Baiyun district, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province on Tuesday. Photo: CFP


At least four people were killed and 36 others injured in an explosion that ripped through a warehouse in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province around noon Tuesday, the city government said on its official Sina Weibo.

The city government confirmed that workers were unloading cargo from a truck at a roadside warehouse in the Ezhangtan area of Baiyun district around 11:50 am, and during the process the explosion occurred.

The explosion also ignited the materials in the warehouse. The identities of the four dead have yet to be confirmed and three people suffered serious injuries.

The case came in the wake of a Monday blast outside a school in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which left two dead and 45 injured.

Rescuers have extinguished the fire and the injured were sent to hospital, according to a post from the city government Tuesday afternoon. The case is still under investigation.

The Guangzhou Daily reported that the local fire department has preliminary suspicions that the truck was loaded with dangerous cargo.

However the Nandu Daily reported that the warehouse is mainly used to store shoes. At least three warehouses were affected by the blast, with some doors and windows of other buildings being shattered.

A taxi driver surnamed Gao told the Global Times Tuesday that the blast broke out as his son was having classes at a primary school near the warehouse.

His son said that he heard a loud noise, larger than the explosion of a gas tank at around noon and he saw a lot of smoke coming out of the warehouse.

Afraid of potential chemical leaks, the teachers evacuated the students and then resumed classes at 2 pm after learning that the explosion wouldn't have lasting effects.

Gao said that his father saw a bus stop beside the factory explode as well as shattered glass.

China Central Television reported that passengers on a bus were hurt as it was passing a bus stop near the warehouse, and that the bus stop was entirely destroyed by the blast.

Among the injured, 13 were children aged between 3 and 5 years old from a kindergarten near the site.

They were sent to hospital, according to the Nandu Daily report, which added that scared children have been receiving psychological treatment.

The driver and the owner of the cargo were not found at the site, the fire department was quoted as saying by the Guangzhou Daily, adding that they were likely to have been killed in the blast.

Global Times



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