the force of the blast started fires in yancheng, knocked down several buildings, and reportedly destroyed windows several kilometers away. the fire was reported to have been controlled by 03:00 local time. considerable damage was caused to nearby factories and offices; the roof of henglida chemical factory, 3 km from the explosion, fell in. at least one of the people killed was in another building destroyed by the blast. windows are reported to have been blown out up to 6 km away from the explosion, and houses and other buildings were damaged in the nearby administrative divisions including hai'an town (haianju) and shadang.