NANJING: A second worker severely injured in a major explosion at a chemical plant in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province, died yesterday at city hospital.

The worker died after treatments failed, according to official sources.

The blast happening on Wednesday killed one worker on the spot and injured several others

Plant and the local government declined to specify exact numbers.

A hundred families who lived near the plant were evacuated. By yesterday afternoon, they had not returned although remnant chemicals in the plant were said to be under control.

The morning explosion happened at the plant located in the suburban town of Yongning.

The explosion's cause remains unknown and an investigation is under way by the Nanjing Municipal Technical Supervision Bureau.

Residents heard an earsplitting explosion at approximately 10:40 am. One villager surnamed Tang was frightened to find the Huguo Chemical Plant 杍ust one hundred metres away from his home "was billowing thick black smoke, according to the Nanjing-based newspaper Modern Express.

Soon after, Tang gave an alarm and fire engines and police rushed to the accident.

Chemicals in the air caused people to feel dizzy, witnesses said.

Four chemical plants exist in Huguo Village, all of which are engaged in the production of poisonous chemical materials.

At about 2 pm, the fire was under control. Most workshops of the plant were destroyed. Five six-metre-high tanks storing flammable or explosive chemicals were saved.

The fires greatly affected the surrounding area, extending about two kilometres.

All of the vegetables planted in fields were covered with black poisonous chemical residue. Fish in various ponds died because of poisonous gases and water sent from the exploded plant.

According to some workers, the plant mainly produced chemical materials like dimethylbenzene, codol and banana oil.

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(China Daily 01/16/2004 page3)