Smelter blast injures 10 in central China

Ten workers were injured, five of them seriously, when a blast ripped through a nickel smelter furnace in central China's Hunan Province, local officials said on Thursday.

The blast happened at around 1:00 pm (local time) on Wednesday when more than 10 repairmen were examining a smelting furnace of Xiaochong Industry Co Ltd, a small smeltery in Loudi City.

Pipe water got into the furnace and triggered the blast, Xinhua news agency quoted an official as saying.