Death toll in China plant explosion rises to 44

The death toll Tianjiayi Chemical plant in the city of Yancheng in eastern China has risen to 44. Thursday's blast at the chemical plant is one of China's worst industrial accidents in years.

Yancheng: The death toll in an explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China has risen to 44, with another 90 people seriously injured, the local government reported on Friday.

Thursday's blast at the Tianjiayi Chemical plant in the city of Yancheng is one of China's worst industrial accidents in years.

Nearly 1,000 area residents have been moved to safety as of Friday as a precaution against leaks and additional explosions, the city government said in a statement posted to its official microblog.

Windows in buildings as far as about six kilometers (three miles) were blown out by the force of the blast.

The city government statement said 3,500 medical workers at 16 hospitals had been mobilized to treat the injured, dozens of whom remain in critical condition.

China has long struggled with industrial safety. A 2015 explosion at a chemical warehouse in the city of Tianjin killed 173 people.