Beijing blast kills three

Beijing blast kills three

BEIJING (Reuter): A huge explosion at a chemical factory in
suburban Beijing killed at least three people and injured 64,
city government officials said yesterday.

The blast that rocked the Dongfang Chemical Factory in
Beijing's Tong county at around 9.30 p.m. (0130 GMT) on Friday
sent shards of metal cascading across nearby streets and blew out
windows up to a kilometer (0.6 miles) away.

"It was a huge explosion," said one resident. "We all ran --
it was terrifying."

An official of the Beijing city government said a fire had
broken out in a storage-tank area at the chemical plant, killing
three people. Of the 64 injured, 12 were seriously hurt, he said.