The explosion in the northwestern town of Xinmin in Shaanxi province injured 147 people and damaged dozens of buildings, including a hospital.

"Three suspects were arrested early Tuesday morning. All three confessed their guilt," Xinhua said late on Tuesday, adding that authorities had launched a province-wide investigation into the production and storage of explosives.

The five houses where the blast occurred were rental properties and their owner had been taken into police custody, the news agency said.

It was unclear what type of explosives caused the blast or what their intended use was, but Shaanxi is a coal-mining province and explosives are widely used in the industry.

Previous blasts have been blamed on improperly stored chemicals or industrial explosives. Explosions at fireworks factories are also not uncommon.

A series of powerful blasts last year at a chemicals warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 165 people.

There have also been cases of people deliberately setting off blasts to settle grievances such as land disputes. </s> Rescue workers search at site after an explosion hit a town in Fugu county, Shaanxi province, China, October 24, 2016. China Daily/via REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters) - A powerful blast at a prefabricated house in northwestern China on Monday killed at least 14 people and injured 147, state news agency Xinhua said.

The explosion occurred in the early afternoon in the town of Xinmin in Shaanxi province, damaging dozens of buildings including the local hospital, Xinhua said.

An initial police investigation indicated that the blast was caused by illegally stored explosives, Xinhua said, adding that authorities had detained the owner of the building and were searching for the tenant.

Eleven of the injured were in intensive care.

Pictures carried by state media showed rescuers digging through the rubble of low rise buildings, though searches for the incident on Chinese social media were blocked on Tuesday.

China has a bad safety record, with previous blasts blamed on poorly stored chemicals or industrial explosives which are easy to get hold of due to their use in China’s booming coal mining sector.

A series of powerful explosions last year at a chemicals warehouse in the northern city of Tianjin killed 165.

There have also been cases of people deliberately setting off blasts to settle local grievances such as land disputes. </s> The explosion, whose cause was as yet unknown, occurred in the early afternoon in the town of Xinmin in Shaanxi province, damaging dozens of buildings including the local hospital, Xinhua said.

Four of the injured were in intensive care, it said.

Pictures carried by state media showed rescuers digging through the rubble of low rise buildings.

Some online news sites quoted residents as saying the blast could have been caused by illegally stored explosives.

China has a bad safety record, with previous blasts blamed on poorly stored chemicals or industrial explosives which are easy to get hold of due to their use in China's booming coal mining sector.

A series of powerful explosions last year at a chemicals warehouse in the northern city of Tianjin killed 165.

There have also been cases of people deliberately setting off blasts to settle local grievances such as land disputes. </s> A powerful explosion of unclear origin killed at least seven people and injured 94 others in China’s Shaanxi Province on Monday afternoon, state-run media reported.

Xinhua News Agency said the explosion occurred at 2 p.m. at a prefabricated house in a residential compound in a township of Fugu County in Yulin, a prefecture-level city in northern Shaanxi.

It said that the blast damaged or destroyed nearby buildings, including the township’s hospital, and that dozens of firefighters and rescuers were still combing the rubble for more survivors.

Xinhua said it remains unclear what caused the explosion.

Earlier in the day, however, the same news agency said a local newspaper had quoted residents as saying the blast “might be related to unlicensed storage of explosives.” </s> The blast occurred at 6:30 pm Thursday night at an industrial park in Sichuan province’s Yibin city, according to a statement on the website of the local work safety administration.

The injured had been taken to hospital and were in stable condition, county officials said, adding that the resulting fire had been put out.

Photos on a local news site showed what appeared to be the burned out shell of a building surrounded by rubble.

The company that owns the building where the fire occurred is a chemical manufacturer named Hengda, according to the official Xinhua news service.

China has been rocked by several industrial accidents in recent years.

A septic tank explosion last November destroyed a wide swathe of a light industrial area in Ningbo, just south of Shanghai.

In 2015, giant chemical blasts in a container storage facility killed at least 165 people in the northern port city of Tianjin.

The explosions caused more than $1 billion in damage and sparked widespread anger at a perceived lack of transparency over the accident’s causes and its environmental impact.

A government inquiry eventually recommended 123 people be punished. Tianjin’s mayor at the time of the accident was sentenced to 12 years in prison for graft in September. </s> An explosion at a gas factory in central China has left at least 12 people dead, authorities said.

An explosion at a gas factory in central China has left at least 12 people dead, authorities said.

Explosion at gas factory in central China kills at least 12

Another 13 people were seriously injured and three others are missing, the Sanmenxia city publicity department said in a social media post.

The Friday evening explosion in Yima city in Henan province shattered windows 1.9 miles away, and knocked off doors inside buildings, Chinese state media reports said.

The official Xinhua news agency said the explosion occurred in the air separation unit of the Yima gas factory of the Henan Coal Gas (Group) Co.

The blast was not in the gas tank areas, and all production has been stopped.

China experiences frequent industrial accidents despite orders from the central government to improve safety at factories, power plants and mines.

More than 60 people died in March in a chemical plant explosion in eastern Jiangsu province.

Among the worst accidents was a massive 2015 explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin that killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers.

That blast was blamed on illegal construction and unsafe storage of volatile materials. </s> Explosion at gas factory in central China kills at least 10

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll has risen to 10 in a gas plant explosion in central China, authorities said Saturday.

Another 19 people were seriously injured and five others are missing, the Sanmenxia city publicity department said in a social media post.

The Friday evening explosion in Yima city in Henan province shattered windows 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) away, and knocked off doors inside buildings, Chinese state media reports said. Yima is part of Sanmenxia city.

The official Xinhua news agency said the explosion occurred in the air separation unit of the Yima gas factory of the Henan Coal Gas (Group) Co., Ltd. The blast was not in the gas tank areas, and all production has been stopped.

China experiences frequent industrial accidents despite orders from the central government to improve safety at factories, power plants and mines.

More than 60 people died in March in a chemical plant explosion in eastern Jiangsu province.

Among the worst accidents was a massive 2015 explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin that killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers. That blast was blamed on illegal construction and unsafe storage of volatile materials. </s> BEIJING (AFP) - An explosion at an electronics component manufacturer in east China on Sunday (March 31) killed seven and injured five others, local authorities said.

The blast happened when a container for storing scrap metal burst into flames outside a factory in an export processing zone in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, the local government said on its official WeChat social media account.

“The cause of the accident outside Kunshan Waffer Technology is still under investigation,” the statement said.

The fire from the storage unit spread to a nearby factory workshop, it added, while one of the five people injured was in a critical condition.

The incident came barely a week after one of China's worst recent industrial accidents, in which an explosion at a chemical plant killed 78 people and injured hundreds.

The powerful explosion in the eastern city of Yancheng toppled several buildings in the industrial park, blew out windows of nearby homes and even dented metal garage doors. It prompted the State Council, China's Cabinet, to order a nationwide inspection of chemical firms.

Deadly industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced.

In November, a gas leak at a plant in the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou, which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, killed 24 people and injured 21 others. Leaked chloroethylene came in contact with a fire source, causing the explosion, the authorities said in a February report that revealed the Chinese chemical firm responsible for the accident had concealed information and misled investigators.

In December, three students were killed in a blast at a Beijing university laboratory during a research experiment on wastewater treatment.

Last July, a blast at a chemical plant in south-west Sichuan province left 19 dead and 12 injured. It was later revealed the company had undertaken illegal construction which did not pass safety checks.

In 2015, China saw one of its worst industrial accidents when giant chemical blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin killed at least 165 people. The explosions caused more than US$1 billion (S$1.36 billion) in damage and sparked widespread anger at a perceived lack of transparency over the accident's causes and its environmental impact. </s> An explosion at a chemical plant in China has killed 19 people and injured 12, officials say.

It's not yet clear what caused the blast on Thursday night at an industrial park in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern province Sichuan, authorities in Jiang'an county said.

The blast is the latest deadly industrial incident in China, which is the largest producer of chemicals.

State news agency Xinhua says the injured are in a stable condition and an investigation into the blast at Yibin Hengda Technology is underway.

The company did not immediately answer telephone calls from Reuters to seek information.

Photographs on Chinese social media show a huge fire and plumes of smoke rising from the facility.

The fire was extinguished by 11.30pm (local time) on Thursday, the government said in a statement.

In 2015, an explosion in a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 165 people.

Last year a blast at a petrochemical plant in eastern Shandong province killed eight people and injured nine.
Illegally stored explosives cause an explosion in a house in northwestern China that kills at least 14 people and injures 147 others in the town of Xinmin in Shaanxi province.