XIANGSHUI, Jiangsu, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Armed Police Force has dispatched a new emergency response team comprising 400 people to assist with rescue efforts after a deadly chemical plant explosion in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Rescuers work at the site of an explosion at a chemical industrial park in Xiangshui County of Yancheng, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

The members on the team, who are specialized in chemical defense, engineering and transport, have come from the Armed Police Force troops stationed in Jiangsu, Anhui and Fujian provinces and brought with them plenty of equipment, such as chemicals reconnaissance and decontamination vehicles.
The explosion happened at about 2:48 p.m. Thursday following a fire that broke out in a plant owned by Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Co. Ltd., in a chemical industrial park in Xiangshui County in the city of Yancheng.
The death toll from the explosion has risen to 78 as of Monday afternoon, authorities said.
Before this team, there have been some 1,000 officers and soldiers of the Armed Police Force working at the site since the blast.