Fire engulfed dozens of trucks near the plant in Hebei Province, after a blast that could be heard more than a mile away. The cause was unclear.
BEIJING — An explosion near a large chemical plant in northern China late Tuesday killed at least 22 people and left 22 others injured, officials said, adding to the string of deadly accidents in the country’s vast industrial sector.
Initial accounts of the blast, near the Hebei Shenghua Chemical Industry Company plant in Hebei Province, did not give a firm cause. But Chinese news reports, and images from the scene, indicated that a fiery explosion near the plant had set around 50 vehicles ablaze, including dozens of trucks, and sent a dark plume of smoke into the night sky.
An industrial safety official who gave only his surname, Wu, told The Paper, a news website in Shanghai, that one of the trucks lined up outside the plant to deliver chemicals had exploded, setting off a chain reaction that engulfed other trucks.
After decades of encouraging feverish industrial growth, the Chinese government has been trying to curb the large numbers of accidents in factories, mines and plants.
