A fire at a chemical factory in southern India killed at least six people and injured 12, a government official said on Thursday, with more casualties feared in the second such accident this week.
Government officials provided images of Wednesday's massive blaze at the factory in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
"There is a possibility of casualties increasing," V. Prasanna Venkatesh, administrative chief of the surrounding district of Eluru, told Reuters.
"Chemical processing was being done (in the unit) and gas cylinders were stored there."
The exact cause of the fire was not immediately clear but it could have been triggered when the cylinders burst for some reason, Venkatesh said, adding that authorities were investigating.
In the western state of Gujarat, a massive explosion at a chemicals plant killed six people this week.
Fatal fires in factories, hospitals and shopping complexes are common in India and often blamed on people flouting safety norms, as well as lax inspection by government officials.
Israeli raids targeting several areas across Lebanon on Tuesday killed 31 people and wounded 40 others, Lebanon's health ministry said, in one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks.
Israel said on Wednesday it had killed Hamas's newly appointed armed wing chief in Gaza, days after it killed his predecessor, while intensifying military pressure in Gaza and expanding operations in Lebanon.
Syria's transitional leadership has located remnants of former President Bashar al-Assad's clandestine chemical weapons programme, including raw materials and munitions similar to those used to carry out deadly gas attacks during the country's long-running civil war.
A chemical tank imploded and ruptured at a Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in the US state of Washington on Tuesday, resulting in one death and nine injuries, while nine others remained unaccounted for as of Tuesday night, authorities said.