An explosion at a firework plant claimed ten lives and left four other people injured in Anhua County of central China's Hunan Province on Thursday, according to local government sources.

Li Huashan, director of the Anhua work safety supervision bureau, told Xinhua News Agency that the blast occurred at about 5:00 PM, first in one workshop before setting off further explosions in another six of Jiangnan Fireworks Plant.

It has devastated an area of approximately 500 square meters and all the workshops have been reduced to debris.

One of those injured was reported to still be in a serious condition at 9:30 PM.

According to Li, there are 17 fireworks plants in Anhua, eight of which have already been closed for safety reasons.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2005)