At least 11 people died and 20 were injured after a stash of illegally stored dynamite exploded in a villager's house in northwestern Shaanxi province, a government official said on Tuesday.
The explosion occurred at noon on Monday in Laogaochuan village in Yulin. Eight people died on the spot while the rest died in hospital.
Most of the victims were migrant workers living at the one-story house owned by a villager called Su Yingxiang, head of the village, who ran away from the site after the explosion, said the official.
The injured were in a stable condition, the official said, adding that the explosion also flattened 23 nearby rooms.
The death toll is expected to rise as more people might be found buried in debris.
Zhou Yibo, secretary of the Yulin City Committee of the Communist Party of China, has arrived in the village to guide the rescue operations.
The city government would carry out a thorough examination of dynamite storage to prevent such accidents, said Zhou.
Rescue operations and investigation into the accident are under way.
{{/usCountry}}Rescue operations and investigation into the accident are under way.
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