Czech Republic's President Milos Zeman (2nd, L) is welcomed by his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang in Hanoi June 7, 2017. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Vietnam has agreed to open a direct air route to the Czech Republic and offer visa waivers to its citizens for up to 15 days.

Czech President Milos Zeman told a press briefing on Wednesday in Hanoi that he and his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang had agreed on single entry visa exemptions for Czech citizens visiting Vietnam and a direct flight between Prague and Ho Chi Minh City to boost tourism, Vietnam News Agency reported.

He also said the republic will open a consulate in Ho Chi Minh City soon.

No specific dates for the air service and the consular opening were revealed in the briefing.

Zeman was accompanied by 68 Czech businesspeople on his two-day visit to Vietnam. An AP report said seven deals including a $20 million beach resort project were signed during the trip.

Vietnam received more than 10 million foreign arrivals last year, up 26 percent from the previous year. Arrivals continued to increase nearly 30 percent during the first five months this year, according to official data.

The country has set a target of welcoming 20 million foreign visitors in 2020 and developing tourism into a key economic sector, but its visa policy has been criticized by tourism industry groups as one of the toughest in Asia.

The country recently announced it would renew its 15-day visa exemption policy for citizens from Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain until the end of June 2018.

Tourism industry groups have been urging the government to open up its visa policy to major markets such as Australia, Canada and India, as well as Eastern European countries including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and former Soviet states Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

While the Czech Republic has become the 23rd country to be granted visa waivers by Vietnam, the rest will simply have to wait.</s>Image copyright EPA Image caption Emergency workers at the scene of the Unipetrol chemical plant blast in Kralupy nad Vltavou

Six people have been killed in an explosion at chemical plant in the Czech Republic.

The blast happened at a Unipetrol facility in the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou, north of the capital, Prague.

"We have received information about six dead and several others seriously injured," regional fire service spokeswoman Vladimira Kerekova told CTK news agency.

The cause of the explosion is not yet known.

It is thought to have struck at about 10:00 local time (09:00 GMT) on the northern outskirts of the town.

In a brief statement, Unipetrol said a fire broke out in a storage tank and that there was no further danger. Czech TV said there was no risk to residents in Kralupy as the town was some distance from the plant.

Unipetrol is one of the largest oil distributing companies and producer of plastics in the Czech Republic.

The plant manufactures toughened polystyrene as well as synthetic rubber for shoes and sports equipment.</s>Prague, March 22 (IANS) At least six people died in an explosion at a chemical plant near the Czech Republic’s capital on Thursday, firefighters said.

The explosion took place in the morning at a Unipetrol facility in the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou, north of Prague, the BBC reported.

The cause of the explosion was not yet known.

“We have received information about six dead and several others seriously injured,” fire service spokeswoman Vladimira Kerekova told CTK news agency.

In a brief statement, Unipetrol said a fire broke out in a storage tank and that there was no further danger. Czech TV said there was no risk to residents in Kralupy as the town was some distance from the plant.

Unipetrol is one of the largest oil distributing companies and producer of plastics in the Czech Republic.

The plant manufactures toughened polystyrene as well as synthetic rubber.</s>Six people were killed in an explosion at a chemical plant in the Czech Republic on Thursday. The plant is located in the north of Prague. According to local news agency CTK, emergency services were responding to the incident, while a spokesperson of the Unipetrol chemical plant confirmed the blast.</s>At least six people died in an explosion at a chemical plant near the Czech Republic’s capital on Thursday, firefighters said.

The explosion took place in the morning at a Unipetrol facility in the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou, north of Prague, the BBC reported.

The cause of the explosion was not yet known.

“We have received information about six dead and several others seriously injured,” fire service spokeswoman Vladimira Kerekova told CTK news agency.

In a brief statement, Unipetrol said a fire broke out in a storage tank and that there was no further danger. Czech TV said there was no risk to residents in Kralupy as the town was some distance from the plant.

The mayor of Kralupy told Czech Television the blast occurred during cleaning of the storage tank.

Unipetrol had been preparing the refinery for maintenance and an upgrade scheduled to run from March 27 to May 9. The facility has an annual capacity of 3.2 million tonnes of oil.

Unipetrol is one of the largest oil distributing companies and producer of plastics in the Czech Republic.

The plant manufactures toughened polystyrene as well as synthetic rubber.</s>Prague, March 22 (IANS) At least six people died in an explosion at a chemical plant near this Czech Republic’s capital on Thursday, firefighters said.

The explosion took place in the morning in the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou, 20 km to the north of Prague, at facility belonging to Ceské Rafinerska, a subsidiary of Unipetrol which has formed part of the Polish group PKN Orlen since 2005, officials said.

The blast destroyed a large storage tank at the chemical plant and left two people seriously injured who were taken to a hospital in Prague, the BBC reported.

“This morning there was an explosion without a subsequent fire in one of the tanks in the Kralupské refinery,” Unipetrol said in a statement. The company described the explosion as “an extraordinary event at the refinery.”

The cause of the explosion, which took place during cleaning operations, had not yet been established, authorities said.

Cleaning work was being carried out by a new company that did not appear to have complied with procedures, according to Deputy Mayor Libor Lesák.

Czech TV said there was no risk to residents in Kralupy as the town was some distance from the plant.

Unipetrol is one of the largest oil distributing companies and producer of plastics in the Czech Republic.

The plant manufactures toughened polystyrene as well as synthetic rubber.</s>At least six people lost their lives after an explosion at a chemical plant in Czech Republic, on Thursday, March 22, five of whom were identified as Romanians, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced.

The explosion took place at the Unipetrol chemical plant in Kralupi nad Vltavou, North of Prague. It was determined by a fire at a storage tank, according to a statement by Unipetrol.

The Romanian authorities will assist the victims’ families in repatriating the victims’ bodies.

Unipetrol is one of the largest oil distributing companies and producer of plastics in the Czech Republic. The plant manufactures toughened polystyrene as well as synthetic rubber for shoes and sports equipment.</s>An explosion at a chemical and plastics processing plant in the Czech Republic has killed six people and injured two.

As reported by the Associated Press, the explosion occurred on March 22 inside a plant located in the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou, north of the capital Prague. Unipetrol, a Czech oil processor and plastics producer, said the blast took place inside one of the storage tanks for fuels and additives in its refinery.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blast, the AP report said.

Regional firefighters confirmed that six people were killed and that two injured people were sent to hospitals. Spokesman Petr Svoboda said there was no danger of further explosions at the site.

Petr Holecek, the town’s mayor, told Czech public television a tank with an unspecified substance exploded. Speaking from the site of the explosion, Holecek also said he believed there was no danger to the town.

No dangerous substances have leaked out, according to police spokeswoman Marketa Jonova.</s>An explosion at a chemical factory in the Czech Republic has killed six people, it has emerged.

Several others were also injured in the blast at the Unipetrol plant in the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou, north of Prague.

At least two of those injured have been transported to a hospital after a tank containing an unspecified substance exploded.

'I can confirm that there has been an incident at our refinery in Kralupy nad Vltavou .... A crisis management meeting is under way,' fire service spokesman Pavel Kaidl said by telephone.

He had no other details on operations at the plant, whose refinery has annual capacity of 3.2 million tonnes of oil.

The company operates another plant in Litvinov, in the north of the country.

Police said emergency services were responding to the explosion. A fire department spokesperson told Czech Television it was a blast at a storage tank and there was no risk of additional explosions.</s>An explosion in a chemical factory in the Czech Republic has killed six people.

Vladimara Kerekova, spokeswoman for the regional firefighters, says an unspecified number of people were also injured in the blast on Thursday.

The Synthos plant is located in the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou, north of Prague.

No further details were immediately known.

Synthos in Kralupy nad Vltavou where six people have been confirmed dead following a chemical explosion at the plant.
Six people are killed after an explosion at a Unipetrol plant in Kralupy nad Vltavou, Czech Republic.