No casualties reported from refinery blast in east China

There were no casualties in an explosion and fire in an oil refinery in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing on Monday, police confirmed.

Three crude oil tanks at the Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Co. refinery exploded at 12:44 pm, the Nanjing fire department said.

As of 5:00 pm, firefighters had put out the flames and taken control of the situation, said Sun Ping, head of the company's information office.

Xinhua reporters saw the plant still blanked with heavy smoke. More than 100 firefighters were putting out the fire and cooling down the unexploded tanks.

Environmental examination shows the explosion has so far caused no water contamination.