OSAKA, Japan, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Two explosions at a chemical plant in southeastern Japan killed a firefighter and injured 30 other people, emergency officials said.
Firefighters were called Saturday around 2 p.m. to a fire at the Nippon Shokubai Co. chemical plant in Himeji, the Kyodo news agency said.
The first explosion happened 40 minutes later as an acrylic acid silo was being hosed down, officials said. Minutes later, there was a second blast that set a fire engine ablaze, the report said.
A 28-year-old firefighter was killed by severe burns, emergency officials said. Eighteen other firefighters were injured, along with two police officers and 10 plant workers, Kyodo said.
Dense gray smoke could be seen for miles around the city.
Officials were trying Sunday to determine the cause of the initial fire.
