The death toll from a huge explosion that rocked a gas plant in central China has risen to 15, state media said Saturday.

Friday's blast at the Henan Coal Gas Group factory left another 15 people seriously wounded and more with light injuries, said the state-run People's Daily.

The blast shattered windows and doors of buildings in a three-kilometre (1.9-mile) radius.

It occurred in the air separation unit of Henan Coal's factory, state broadcaster CCTV said, with the official Xinhua news agency saying a device in the factory exploded at 5:45 pm on Friday.

All production at the plant has been stopped. More than 270 rescuers were on the scene, Xinhua said, citing the emergency management ministry.

"Many windows and doors within a three-kilometre radius were shattered, and some interior doors were also blown out by the blast," CCTV said on its Twitter-like Weibo social media account.

Local media showed amateur videos of a massive column of black smoke billowing from the factory and debris littering the roads.

Other images showed the doors and windows of homes blown out and shuttered shops with dented metal fronts.

A bloodied man was seen being helped out of a van in a video posted on social media.

AFP could not immediately verify the authenticity of the footage.

- Industrial accidents -

Deadly industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced.

In March, a blast at a chemical plant in eastern Jiangsu province killed 78 people and injured hundreds.

The powerful explosion in the eastern city of Yancheng toppled several buildings in the industrial park, blew out windows of nearby homes and even dented metal garage doors.

Authorities detained two dozen people in connection with the March 21 blast, which prompted the government to order a nationwide inspection of chemical firms.

A week after that explosion, seven died following a blast at an electronics component manufacturer in the same province.

In November, a gas leak at a plant in the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou -- which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics -- killed 24 people and injured 21 others.

Leaked chloroethylene came in contact with a fire source causing the explosion, authorities said in a February report, which also claimed the Chinese chemical firm responsible for the accident had concealed information and misled investigators.

In 2015, China suffered one of its worst industrial accidents when giant chemical blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin killed at least 165 people.

China hampering energy activity in South China Sea: US
Washington (AFP) July 20, 2019 - The United States on Saturday expressed concern over reports that China is hampering other countries' oil and gas activities in the South China Sea and accused Beijing of acting like a bully.

The State Department said such acts by China -- it did not say when they are alleged to have happened -- threaten regional peace and security. It said these acts were interfering in particular with Vietnamese oil and gas exploration and production.

"As Secretary Pompeo noted earlier this year, 'by blocking development in the SCS through coercive means, China prevents ASEAN members from accessing more than $2.5 trillion in recoverable energy reserves,'" spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Vietnam and China have long been locked in a maritime disagreement over the resource-rich waters of the South China Sea.

The Chinese claim nearly all of it.

But the international community has largely sided with the other claimants -- Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei -- citing the importance of freedom of navigation.

"China's reclamation and militarization of disputed outposts in the SCS, along with other efforts to assert its unlawful SCS maritime claims, including the use of maritime militia to intimidate, coerce and threaten other nations, undermine the peace and security of the region," the US statement said.

"The United States firmly opposes coercion and intimidation by any claimant to assert its territorial or maritime claims," Ortagus added.

"China should cease its bullying behavior and refrain from engaging in this type of provocative and destabilizing activity."

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