At least 12 people were injured Wednesday after an explosion at a steel plant in central Japan, an official said.
Television pictures showed clouds of black smoke billowing from the Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal facility in Tokai.
A spokesman for the Aichi prefectural police said the fire department had been alerted to a problem at the plant at 12:46 pm (0346 GMT).A Tokai city official said at least 12 people were injured, with public broadcaster NHK reporting that they all worked at the plant.
“There was a small explosion, and the cause was a fire at a coke oven,” the city official told, adding he did not know details about the severity of the injuries.
