By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-15 10:20

GUANGZHOU: At least seven people were killed and more than 40 were injured on Thursday when two trucks exploded at a rest stop on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Highway, police said on Friday.

Twenty-five schoolchildren were among those injured in the blaze that followed the blast, which lasted about two hours, police said.

As of 5 pm on Friday, four of the dead had been identified, three of whom were working on one of the trucks, and the fourth a worker at a nearby construction site, a statement by the Huangpu district government of Guangzhou said.

"Eight people are still undergoing treatment in hospital, but all are in a stable condition," an official surnamed Qiu from the district government said.

An emergency team has been set up to investigate the incident, he said.

The blast, whose tremors were felt at a nearby school, happened as workers were loading the two trucks, one of which was from Jiangxi province and the other from Hunan province, the statement said.

Windows and glass doors at a nearby seven-story apartment block were also blown out, it said.

The statement said the truck from Jiangxi was being loaded with "short plastic disc caps", as used in toy guns. Its driver and a co-worker have yet to be located.

A chemical plant close to the rest stop was hit by a gas explosion in September.

Guangzhou Party Secretary Zhu Xiaodan has asked the Huangpu district government to investigate the two blasts as a matter of urgency.