TOKYO (AP) -- An explosion Tuesday at a fertilizer plant in northern Japan killed one worker and injured three others, police said.
The accident occurred just before lunch time in the city of Akita while workers were welding plant equipment, an Akita Prefectural (state) Police spokesman Toru Hosaka said.
The four workers suffered burns and were taken to a nearby hospital. One of them, a 59-year-old man who was in serious condition, later died, another spokesman Takeo Chiba said. The extent of the injuries to the three others was not immediately known.
Chiba said the explosion might have been caused by a flammable gas that escaped from a chemical tank and caught fire during welding.
Firefighters and police rushed to the site. No smoke or flames were visible from outside the factory building, and damage did not extend outside the factory complex, he said.
Akita City is about 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of Tokyo.
