Ten workers were injured in a blast in a chemical factory on Wednesday in the city of Vapi in India's northwestern Gujarat state.

The blast is believed to have been caused by an increase in the temperature of the chemical reactor.

Police say ten people were injured, three serious.

Firefighters say the intensity of the blast was so great that it damaged property in a two mile radius around the factory and also damaged their equipment.

[Praveen Joshi, Fireman]:
"Our browser is damaged badly and four or five fire officials have suffered major injuries. Even the doors of our fire staff residences are broken. Five or six laborers who used to work and live in the factory were injured and one motorbike rider was also injured. We don’t know if anyone is inside the factory. The blast could be from a leak, but we don’t know what the leak would be."

Vapi City is a hub of chemical industry plants and is the largest industrial area in Asia in terms of small-scale industries.

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