An explosion at a factory in eastern China killed 16 people and injured dozens Sunday, an official and state media said.
The blast happened at 3 a.m. local time Sunday (1900GMT Saturday) at a factory producing quartz sand in Fengyang, a county in Anhui province, said an official at the State Administration of Work Safety.
The cause was not immediately clear. The Fengyang county government said it was still collecting information on the explosion.
The work safety official, who would not give her name, said 16 people died in the explosion. Xinhua News Agency and state broadcaster CCTV said 44 people were injured.
Xinhua said the factory was owned by Jingxin Mining Ltd. Co., a private company, and that most of those killed were factory workers while the injured were all nearby residents.