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A Sunday morning explosion in Ningbo (China) kills 2 and injures dozens

A major explosion hit China’s port city of Ningbo on Sunday, killing at least two people, injuring over 30 and destroying buildings and cars.

The Ningbo government said on a social media account that the blast occurred in a “vacant lot” but it did not provide details about what may have caused it. Authorities on Sunday night still had not announced a suspected cause of the explosion, which took place around 9.00am (0100 GMT) in a relatively new residential area in northern Ningbo marked by rows and rows of towering housing blocks.

Television images showed cars twisted and mangled by the force of the explosion, a plume of grey smoke rising in the sky and debris scattered for dozens of metres around the site of the incident.

Footage showed rescuers carrying injured people away from the area, while others stood over a person lying on the ground.

Pieces of concrete, wood and glass were strewn across a large area. Metal gates were twisted open and windows were blown out. Aerial images posted by the People’s Daily on Twitter showed at least four wrecked buildings around a wasteland of concrete debris.

An enquiry has been launched to determine the cause of the explosion, the local police in Jiangbei district, where the blast happened, said on social media.