BEIJING  — A fire broke out Sunday at a factory belonging to Chinese battery giant CATL, which supplies electric vehicle makers including Tesla, but only a “relatively small” impact on operations is expected, the company said.

A CATL spokesperson said no injuries or casualties had occurred at the plant in the coastal city of Ningde, and that “the reasons behind this accident are still under investigation”. Emergency services were sent to the plant to fight the fire and to organise the evacuation of any people who were inside the 15,000 square metre (160,000 square feet) site, a statement by the Dongqiao Economic and Technological Development Zone said.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze just before 11:30 AM local time (0330 GMT). It was not immediately clear what was produced at the plant, CATL’s base in the eastern province of Fujian, but the company said the effect of the now extinguished fire would not be significant. “The impact to CATL’s overall production operation is relatively small,” the spokesperson said.

Videos published by the Chinese business media outlet Cailianshe, and posted on the Weibo social network, showed parts of a large white building in flames with thick gray smoke rising into the air. AFP could not immediately verify the authenticity of the images. CATL was founded in 2011 and produces more than a third of the electric vehicle batteries sold worldwide for automakers that include Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai.(Jamaicaobserver)…[+]