BEIJING, Feb 4 (AP) -- A cache of explosives stored in a house exploded in a village in northern China, killing six people, the government said Saturday.

One other person was injured in the explosion of the 30-kilogram (65-pound) stockpile on Friday evening in the village of Lianjie in Shanxi province, the county government said.

All of the dead were coal mine employees, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing unidentified relatives.

The report didn't say why the explosives were stored in a house. But explosives used in China's thousands of small coal mines often are handled with few safety precautions.