Beijing, July 28: At least six people died and more than 300 others were injured in an explosion when a chemical pipeline ignited in eastern China on Wednesday, state media reported.
The blast occurred in the city of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, at about 10:00 am (0200 GMT), China National Radio said on its website.
It said a pipeline carrying ethylene blew up on the grounds of an abandoned plastics factory.
The official Xinhua news agency said its reporters had seen six people recorded as dead at nearby hospitals.
More than 300 people, including 52 with serious injuries, were rushed to local hospitals for treatment, the China News Service said.
Authorities were still trying to determine the total number of casualties from the blast, which blew out windows in buildings up to 300 metres (yards) away, reports said.
The explosion hit a bus passing through the area, injuring many passengers, Xinhua said.
Local residents said they felt a tremor and heard a loud noise, and many fled from buildings thinking there was an earthquake, it said.
"There are dozens of injured in our hospital. Their situations are not serious, most of them suffered burns," said a doctor at the city's Zhongda hospital, who refused to identify herself.
"Nobody has died in our hospital. There are injured people in every big hospital in Nanjing."
Many hospitals had almost exhausted their blood stocks and local residents were rushing to mobile collection vehicles to donate blood, Xinhua said.
It said a fire that broke out at the scene following the blast had been brought under control.
Local government officials will hold a news conference on the explosion later Wednesday, Xinhua said.