The toll in the chemical plant explosion in China’s Jiangsu province climbed to 47 on Friday, Xinhua reported. It is one of the country’s worst industrial accidents in recent years.

The explosion took place on Thursday at a pesticide plant in eastern China’s Jiangsu province. The explosion followed a fire at the factory. More than 600 people were hospitalised. The Ministry of Emergency Management said 88 people have been rescued from the site of the incident.

President Xi Jinping said environment monitoring and early warning should be improved to prevent pollution as well as secondary disasters. Xi asked local governments to prevent any more industrial disasters, reported Channel News Asia.

Xi ordered that the cause of the accident must be ascertained. The State Council, China’s cabinet, has formed a team to investigate the explosion.

A blast in an iron ore mine in China’s Liaoning province had killed at least 11 people in June 2018. A blast at a chemical plant in southwest Sichuan province left 19 dead and 12 injured in July. In November, an explosion at a PVC production plant in a northern Chinese city caused by a gas leak led to the deaths of 24 people.