Chinese chemical plant survivors relive horror of ‘earth-shattering’ blast
- Witnesses say they saw fireballs shot into the air and tell of widespread destruction after the explosion in Yancheng city
- One man said he saw a child being thrown into the air, while witnesses describe how shards of glass ‘fell like rain’
The explosion nearly flattened an industrial estate next to the plant in Yancheng city and caused extensive damage to other nearby buildings, including offices and factories.
Wang Xinfang said shards of glass from the windows had been “falling like rain” in a village 6km away from the plant. She had been out shopping at the time of the explosion and had immediately run out of the store to escape the falling debris and flying glass.
She later found one member of her family crushed dead in the rubble of their home near the site while her own house, in the neighbouring village of Haianju, had suffered damage to the walls and roof.
Li Hongmei, a hotel owner from Chenjiagang, said she had seen a three-year-old boy being thrown into the air by the force of the shock wave that had left him visibly terrified.
