Factory explosion in China’s Inner Mongolia region kills 2 and hospitalizes 66

John McCarthyPosted oninBreaking News, Business News, International News, Police News

BEIJING (AP) — An explosion at a factory in China’s Inner Mongolia region killed two people and left 66 others hospitalized today.

China’s official news agency Xinhua said the blast, which sent heavy plumes of smoke into the sky, occurred at a plant of Baogang United Steel in the city of Baotou at around 3 p.m local time and caused tremors in the surrounding areas. The report also said three of those hospitalized suffered serious injuries, and five people remained missing.

Rescue crews rushed to the scene and authorities are still investigating the cause of the blast, the agency said.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

John McCarthy

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.