Updated: 3:55 a.m. Monday, June 3, 2013 | Posted: 3:54 a.m. Monday, June 3, 2013

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN


BEIJING — A massive fire broke out at a poultry plant in northeastern China early Monday, trapping workers inside a cluttered slaughterhouse and killing at least 112 people, reports and officials said.

Several dozen people also were hurt in the blaze in Jilin province's Mishazi township, which appeared to have been sparked by three early-morning explosions, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The provincial fire department, on its microblog, attributed the blasts to an ammonia leak.

State broadcaster CCTV quoted unidentified workers as saying the fire broke out during a change of shifts at the plant, owned by Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Co., and may have originated in a locker room at a time when about 350 workers were at the site.

The plant's "complicated" interior, narrow exits and a locked front gate made escape difficult, Xinhua quoted survivors as saying. It appeared the death toll could continue to rise as more bodies were recovered from the charred buildings.

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