China chemical blast kills 47\, injures 640: media

The death toll has jumped in an explosion at a Chinese pesticide plant according to state media on Wednesday (March 22).

The fiery blast injured hundreds of people overnight in the city of Yancheng in eastern Jiangsu province.

Reports also say survivors were taken to 16 hospitals and that 640 had been treated for injuries.

The plant fire spread to neighboring factories and media reported that children at a kindergarten nearby were injured in the blast.

The cause is still under investigation but the China Daily says the company has been cited and fined for work safety violations in the past.

Public anger over safety standards has grown in China the country has been plagued by a string of industrial accidents ranging from mining disasters to factory fires that have tarnished three decades of breakneck growth.

Chemical plants in particular have been hit by disaster.

In 2015, a series of explosions at a Tianjin chemical warehouse killed 165 people, not far from Beijing.

Those blasts were big enough to be seen by satellites and register on earthquake sensors.