20 dead in Chinese chemical plant explosion

tauringhuang.

BEIJING, China (CN*) -- The death toll from an explosion at a chemical plant in southern China has reached 20, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday.


A fire rages after explosions at a chemical plant in Yizhou city of China's Guangxi province.

According to The Associated Press, another 60 people were injured in the blasts that started at about 6 a.m. Tuesday and continued until 1 p.m.

Most of the dead worked at the plant, located in China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The Guangxi Guangwei Chemical Company owns the plant.

It mainly produces chemicals used in adhesives, paints, and coatings, Xinhua said.  Watch more about the explosion »

Environmental experts went to the area along the Longjiang River near the plant to monitor for contamination.

tauringhuang.

Ge Xianmin, the region's toxic substances emergency center director, told Xinhua that poisonous gases, mainly hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide, were still coming from the site.

About 11,500 people living in a 1.8-mile (3-kilometer) radius of the plant were evacuated