Nine people were killed and three others injured in two separate explosions at illegal Chinese firework workshops, officials said on Sunday.

A workshop in Duanguzhuang Village, Luancheng County, in the northern Hebei Province, exploded at 11 a.m. on Sunday, killing six and injuring another.

A county government official said police have detained suspects and were investigating the accident.

Elsewhere, three members of a family were killed and two others injured in an explosion when they were making dynamite illegally at home in the southwestern Yunnan Province.

The explosion occurred at 11:50 a.m. on Saturday in Guozhu Village, Zhenxiong County, killing villager Liu Longchun, his mother-in-law and brother-in-law, said acting county magistrate Zhang Jin on Sunday.

Liu's wife and brother were injured and have been sent to hospital. They were in stable conditions on Sunday.

An initial investigation suggested the family were making the dynamite to produce fireworks without permission.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Both the Luancheng and Zhenxiong governments have launched inspections in the counties to prevent such accidents from happening again.

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2008)