Gunpowder blast injures 56 in Japan

Japanese police are investigating a powerful explosion at a gunpowder storehouse, which injured 56 people and damaged hundreds of homes.

The blast occurred late on Tuesday in Taketoyo, central Japan, at a factory owned by leading chemical company NOF.

Television footage showed the warehouse reduced to a few twisted, charred girders.

The blast shattered windows and damaged doors of more than 340 homes up to 1.5km away. Nineteen people were sent to hospital for treatment.

The factory, which manufactures gunpowder and rocket engine fuel, has 422 employees.

But only 10 security guards were on duty at the time of the blast. Reports said all of them escaped injury.

Ammunition

Norio Iwahashi, deputy chief of the region's fire department, said there were no reports of serious injuries.

"Considering the huge scale of the blast, we can say the number of those injured is extremely low," he added.

The explosion began in a storage room containing several tons of gunpowder intended for use in small arms ammunition, company spokesman Yuichi Kimura said.

Witnesses reported seeing flames as high as 50 metres shoot into the air and said they felt the ground shake after the blast.

Negligence

Mr Kimura said the factory had been shut on Tuesday and that the gunpowder could not have ignited spontaneously.

He said only a fire, abnormally high temperatures or violent impact could have set it off.

Japanese news reports said investigators were examining the possibility of charging NOF with criminal negligence.