Thirteen people have been confirmed dead and 43 others injured after an explosion ripped through a chemical plant in north China's Hebei province Tuesday morning, Xinhua quoted local authorities as saying. The accident happened at around 9:30 a.m. at Hebei Keeperchemical Industries Co. Ltd in Zhaoxian county, said Cheng Weiqing, deputy chief of the public security bureau of Shijiazhuang, Hebei's capital city which administers Zhaoxian. The blast flattened one of the factory's workshops and shattered window panes within a radius of 2,000 meters, Cheng quoted witnesses as saying. The injured had been hospitalized, according to Cheng. The blast was felt in at least three villages near the plant, he said. There was no risk of contamination from the blast at the plant, which manufactures pesticide products such as guanidine nitrate, Cheng added.
