6 dead, 30 seriously injured after blast rocks industrial park in east China

Rescuers transfer an injured person of an explosion at a factory located in a chemical industrial park in Xiangshui County of Yancheng, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 21, 2019. Six people are dead and 30 others seriously injured after the explosion Thursday afternoon, local authorities said. (Xinhua/Chen Feng)

NANJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Six people are dead and 30 others seriously injured after an explosion ripped through an industrial park in the city of Yancheng, eastern China's Jiangsu Province Thursday afternoon, local authorities said.

The explosion happened at about 2:48 p.m. following a fire that broke out in a factory that produces pesticides located in a chemical industrial park, said the government of Xiangshui county.

Workers were trapped after buildings were knocked down by the shockwave, which also shattered windows of nearby residential houses. Witnesses said many workers were seen running out of the factory covered in blood after the blast.

Thirty-one people have been rescued as of 5 p.m., the Ministry of Emergency Management said.

The firefighter brigade of Jiangsu said they had mobilized 86 fire trucks to join the rescue mission.

The ministry has dispatched a team of experts to the site and urged all-out efforts in the rescue.