An explosion at a hospital in north China's Shanxi Province killed at least 27 people yesterday and left the site looking a warzone littered with wrecked buildings.

The death toll may rise, according to Xinhua.

The blast occurred at about 2:25 AM in an underground garage of the staff hospital of Xuangang Coal and Electricity Co Ld in Yuanping, local sources confirmed.

It destroyed a two-storey residence directly above and brought down a section of a nearby five-storey building housing medical staff. Buildings within a 1-kilometre radius suffered damage.

Twenty-seven bodies were found as of 11:00 PM and seven people have been hospitalized.

Armed police were mobilized to help rescue efforts and rescuers were digging through the debris for victims, said Li You, an official with the hospital's security department.

A resident who lives about 2 kilometres from the blast site said that windows in her neighbourhood were shattered when the explosion shook the city.

An investigation into the cause of the explosion is under way.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2006)