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| Japan: Fatal blast at Mitsubishi Materials factory | Japan: Fatal blast at Mitsubishi Materials factory |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| At least five people have been killed and 12 injured in an explosion at a chemical factory in central Japan. | |
| The blast occurred in the afternoon at the plant run by Mitsubishi Materials in Yokkaichi city, Mie prefecture. | |
| Maintenance crews were cleaning out a heat exchanger used in the production of silicon products when the blast happened, officials said. | |
| It is not clear at this stage what caused the explosion, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from Japan. | |
| The plant manufactures polymers and uses a number of highly-volatile chemicals including hydrogen and chlorine, he adds. | |
| Thursday's blast at the plant - based some 350km (220 miles) west of Tokyo - killed five of the maintenance workers on the spot. | |
| The number of injured has ranged, in reports, from 12 to 17. | |
| Emergency officials said there had been no fire and the situation was quickly contained. | |
| Mitsubishi Materials - a division of the huge Mitsubishi Corporation - makes a range of automotive, electronics, and construction and engineering products. | |
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