At least six people were missing and about 70 needed hospital treatment after explosions ripped through a chemical plant in China's north-eastern city of Jilin on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of more than 10,000 people, officials and state media said, according to DPA. State television showed thick yellow and black fumes spreading over a district of apartment blocks in Jilin, after a series of explosions hit the No. 101 Chemical Plant of the Jilin Petroleum and Chemical Company. The chemicals exploded in an aniline workshop at the plant in the afternoon but the fire and leakage were now "under control", a spokesman for Jilin city told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa. Aniline is a colourless chemical used in the manufacture of dyes, plastics and drugs. The spokesman said the number of casualties was still "unclear", but the official Xinhua news agency said at least six workers were missing after the explosion and about 70 were treated in local hospitals, state media said. The force of the blasts shattered windows in buildings up to 200 metres from the plant, the reports said. More than 10,000 local residents were evacuated because of fears of more explosions or the release of poisonous chemicals. The area around the plant was sealed off as at least a dozen fire engines were sent to control fires and prevent more leakages of chemicals. A spokesman for the Jilin Petroleum and Chemical Company said the fire and the emission of toxic fumes were "under control" by Sunday evening. "There is no possibility of new explosions," the company spokesman said.
