Three hurt in E China chemical plant explosion

Three people were hurt in a chemical plant blast in east China's Zhejiang province on Tuesday night, local firefighters said.

The accident happened at 7:49pm, when a tank containing methanol and acetic acid exploded at Huayi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd in Fotang county, Yiwu city, triggering a fire. By 9 pm, fire had spread to an area covering 400 square meters.

The company has 22 such tanks, according to firefighters.

Pictures on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, showed the plant on fire with thick smoke.

Firefighters are still trying to put out the blaze.