Huge blast rocks Chinese port city

A powerful explosion hit China's major port city of Ningbo yesterday, killing at least two people, injuring more than a dozen and wrecking buildings, authorities said.

Cars were twisted and mangled by the force of the blast, a plume of grey smoke rose in the sky and debris was scattered for dozens of metres. But there was no official word on its cause.

The Ningbo government said on a social media account that the blast occurred in a "vacant lot".

Local authorities said two people died, two were seriously injured and an unidentified number were being treated for lesser injuries in one of China's largest ports, just south of Shanghai.

State media said more than 30 people were taken to hospital. The Xinhua news agency said the explosion happened in a demolished factory at around 9:00 am (0100 GMT).

Aerial images posted by the People's Daily on Twitter showed at least four wrecked buildings around a wasteland of concrete debris.

The Communist Party's People's Daily said on Twitter that no one lived at the scene but garbage collectors might have been working there.

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

Ningbo is one of the country's major international container shipping ports.