The death toll from a huge explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China surged to 47 on Friday, making it one of the country's worst industrial accidents in recent years.
More than 600 people are receiving medical treatment following Thursday afternoon's blast at the industrial park in Yancheng, the city government said 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.
"We knew we'd be blown up one day," said one 60-year-old woman surnamed Xiang.
She said she had harboured concerns about safety and pollution at the site for a long time.
Hundreds of rescuers have been sent to the scene, local authorities said, and more than 3,000 people have been evacuated from the blast site.
The blaze from the explosion has been extinguished, local officials said on Friday, after firefighters battled raging flames through the night. Three chemical tanks and five other areas had been on fire.
Black smoke could still be seen rising from the chemical plant on Friday morning.
Authorities, who are investigating the cause of the accident, said a number of people were taken into police custody.
The chemical facility involved in the explosion belonged to Tianjiayi Chemical, a firm with 195 employees established in 2007.
According to local officials, the Jiangsu-based company mainly produced raw chemical materials, including anisole, a highly flammable compound.
The force of the explosion blew out windows and dented metal garage doors of buildings as far as four kilometres from the site.
On the road where Ms Xiang lived, consisting of basic two-storey homes, almost all the windows and some window frames were blown in.
The woman was sitting at home when the explosion occurred and said the force rocked her house and badly damaged her front door.
There was no immediate government help, she said, and residents were clearing the street themselves.
Images broadcast on local media showed how the blast toppled factory buildings, trapping workers inside. State broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers pulling a survivor from the wreckage.
Workers covered in blood were seen running out of the factory, the official news agency Xinhua said on Thursday, citing witnesses.
An aerial view of the blast area showed a large swath of destruction in the industrial park where fires had raged.
Deadly industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced.
In November, a gas leak at a plant in the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou that will host the 2022 Winter Olympics killed 24 people and injured 21 others.
A report published by local authorities last month revealed that the Chinese chemical firm responsible for the accident had concealed information and misled investigators.
In 2015, China saw one of its worst industrial accidents when giant chemical blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin killed at least 165 people.
The explosions caused more than $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) in damage and sparked widespread anger at a perceived lack of transparency over the accident's causes and its environmental impact.
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Total fights: 32
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Losses: 4
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
