Five people are missing and 15 others were injured following an explosion in a fireworks factory on Thursday evening in Jiangchuan County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, local government sources confirmed Friday.

At around 18:20 on Thursday, a storehouse exploded at Xiaotuanshan Fireworks Factory in Jiangchuan County, where 202 people were working. 15 people have been injured and five others are missing.

Local government sources said two seriously injured people have been sent to a hospital in neighbouring Yuxi City, and another person who is in a critical condition has been hospitalized in the provincial capital of Kunming.

Rescuers are searching for the missing people and the cause of the accident is being investigated.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2006)