'No damage' after blast at chemical site

40,000 people living near the plant will be moved 15 km away following second accident in 20 months

Local authorities are optimistic that there has been no damage to the environment after an explosion at a chemical plant in Fujian province that forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

The city's environment protection bureau said on Sunday that monitoring of air and water quality in Zhangzhou, Fujian, since the disaster on April 6 showed "no significant harm to the natural environment due to the explosion has been detected so far", according to a Xinhua report.