A large fire has broken out at a steel plant near Haneda airport south of the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

There have been no reports of injuries, say Japanese officials.

A fire official told AFP news agency the blaze started at a two-metre-tall (6.7ft) cooling tower at a factory owned by a unit of Nippon Steel.

Haneda Airport is about 25km (15.5 miles) from central Tokyo. The steel plant is situated in the city of Kawasaki, which is next to the airport.

Passengers at the airport uploaded pictures of the fire on social media showing large plumes of black smoke.

The fire spread to a factory next door operated by consumer goods company Kao, and 600 employees were evacuated, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said.

There was no immediate impact on the airport, NHK also said.

One passenger, Darren Pauls, said on Twitter that operations appeared unaffected and the airport train was still running.

It was the second large fire to break out in Japan on Monday, following a blast at a US military base in Sagamihara which has been extinguished.

The US Army said the warehouse stored compressed gases including nitrogen, oxygen and freon. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the blast.

Source: BBC