(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-24 21:28

NANNING -- An explosion at an illegal fireworks shop killed three people and injured 13 others in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, sources with the local government said on Saturday.

The explosion occurred at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Xiashetang village in Hepu County, Beihai City in southern Guangxi.

Jiang Da, head of the county government, said police and fire-fighters found two bodies at the scene and another in a sugar cane field near the village.

All 13 injured people were hospitalized, seven in critical condition, Jiang said.

The shop was run by a local villager surnamed Mo, whose mother was among the dead. Other victims were local residents hired by Mo to produce fireworks, he said.

Villagers described the explosion as "deafening" and said it caused a huge mass of smoke and dust.

Mo was placed under police detention.

The county government has set up a team to investigate the accident and announced a security check on the county's fireworks makers.