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Five people were killed and five others injured in a major explosion and the ensuing fire in a plant manufacturing leatheroid, or artificial leather, in east China's Wenzhou City Monday night, local authorities said Tuesday.
The explosion occurred at around 11 p.m. in the drying workshop of Wenzhou No.1 Leatheroid Plant, located in Longwan District of the coastal city of Zhejiang province.
It took more than 40 firefighters half an hour to control the fire triggered by the explosion. Four bodies were found at the scene after the fire was put out, and another victim, a female migrant laborer from southwest China's Chongqing municipality, perished in hospital early Tuesday morning.
There were 30 workers on duty in the workshop at the time of explosion, and more than 20 escaped unhurt, local sources said.
The cause of the explosion remains unclear, but local officials believe it was most likely an accident.
The Zhejiang provincial government has sent an investigation team to Wenzhou, known for its thriving private sector. A citywide check on industrial safety was also launched following the blast.
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2002)
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