Update: Death toll rises to 14 in east China gas tank truck blast

Photo taken on June 13, 2020 shows the site of a tank truck blast in Wenling, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua)

HANGZHOU, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a gas tank truck blast in east China has risen to 14 and the number of the injured grew to 168, local authorities said.

The accident occurred at around 4:46 p.m. Saturday when a tank truck loaded with liquified gas exploded near the village of Liangshan in the city of Wenling, Zhejiang Province, on a section of the Shenyang-Haikou Expressway, the authorities said.

A second blast happened when the blown-up truck fell onto a workshop near the expressway. The explosions caused the collapse of some residential houses and factory workshops.

The ministries of public security and emergency management have sent their working groups to Zhejiang.

Rescue and search efforts are underway.