Pakistan ‘stands with China’ as chemical plant blast kills 47

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ISLAMABAD/JIANGSU: Pakistan on Friday expressed solidarity with China as the death toll from a huge explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China surged to 47, making it one of the country’s worst industrial accidents in recent years.

Dr Mohammad Faisal, the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Foreign Office tweeted: “We are grieved at the loss of precious lives in the blast at Jiangsu, Tianjiayi Chemical Plant [in] China on Thursday.”

“Pakistan stands with our Chinese brothers and sisters in this hour of grief,” he assured.

More than 600 people are receiving medical treatment following Thursday afternoon’s blast at the industrial park in Yancheng, said the city government on its official Twitter-like Weibo account.

Among them, at least 90 are seriously injured. City officials had previously said that at least 12 people were killed and 30 injured in the explosion in Jiangsu province.

The explosion was so powerful that it apparently triggered a small earthquake, knocked down several factory buildings and shattered the windows of homes a few kilometres away.