Blast reported at chemical factory in China

DEVELOPING: An explosion and fire was reported Tuesday at a chemical factory in northeast China, according to state media.

Broadcaster CCTV reported that the incident in Fushun is under investigation. Images of the blast site showed the factory in flames with smoke billowing out.

There was no immediate word on any injuries from the explosion.

The blast came several months after a massive explosion at a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin left 173 dead, in China's worst industrial disaster in years, The Associated Press reported.

Authorities investigating the Aug. 12 incident said there were "several hundred" tons of the toxic chemical sodium cyanide -- which can form a flammable gas if brought in contact with water -- at the blast site. State media reported at the time that the warehouse was not allowed to hold more than 10 tons of the chemical.

In mid-October, an explosion at a warehouse for alcohol materials rocked Tianjin again, but there were no casualties.