Factory blast kills 15, injures 50

INDIA: A sodium tank exploded at a paper factory in northern India on Monday, sparking a blaze that killed 15 nightshift workers and injured 50 others, officials said.

Fire fighters rescued hundreds of workers initially trapped by the blaze at the factory in the town of Udham Singh Nagar in India's Uttaranchal state, said police official Amit Kumar Sinha. The injured were taken to local hospitals, he said

"The blast took place in the factory when hundreds of workers were working in the evening shift. The whole area caught fire after the blast," Sinha said by telephone, explaining that the explosion occured in a sodium tank.

State government spokesman Amit Chandola said 15 people had died.

The town is about 400 kilometers northwest of the region's largest city, Lucknow, capital of the neighboring Uttar Pradesh state.

Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari, the state's top elected official, ordered an inquiry into the blast, Chandola said. Local lawmaker Harbhajan Singh Cheema said the explosion could be heard kilometers away.

Lucknow, Tuesday, AP.