A depot in a chemical plant in east China's Zhejiang Province blasted Tuesday, setting off a large amount of poisonous gas into the air, state media reported.

No casualties are reported, but the economic losses are expected to be 'huge', reported the China News without elaboratate.

But the report doesn't tell how the poisonous gas will affect the region.

"The roof of the blasted depot of Hangzhou-based Zhejiang HongDa Chemical Co., Ltd. is charred and collapses in the explosion. All the goods stored are devastated, the China News says.

Rescuers and firefighters rush to the site after the blast and the fire is under control.

The cause of the blast is under investigation.

Nearly 50 per cent of China's petrochemical enterprises are prone to cause disastrous environmenal problems because they are alway set up alongside major rivers and banks, media reports said.

(China Daily July 19, 2006)