At least seven dead, 43 injured in India chemical factory blast

At least seven workers were killed and several morewere feared trapped after a blast at a chemical factory in westernIndia on Saturday, police said.As many as 43 workers were rescued and taken to hospitals after theexplosion in the plant located on the outskirts of Dhule city inMaharashtra state. "Seven people have died in the blast. It is not clear what kind ofexplosion it was, our forensic teams are investigating whether it wasa blast in the boiler unit, or a gas cylinder or chemicalsexplosion," area police official Raju Bhujbal said.The powerful blast rocked nearby homes and buildings and sparked ahuge fire, Bhujbal said. News channels showed footage of clouds ofblack smoke billowing from the factory."Several more workers could be trapped in the factory," Bhujbal said,adding that there were varying accounts as to how many people couldpossibly still be inside, ranging from 60 to 100.The death toll could rise as the condition of several of the injuredwas said to be serious, he added.