Explosion kills 22 at China firecracker disposal site

URUMQI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Local officials said that 22 people were killed and 10 injured in an accidental explosion at a fireworks disposal site in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Wednesday.

The accident happened at about 7:00 p.m., when authorities in Turpan city were destroying eight truckloads of fireworks in the Gobi desert about seven to eight kilometers from the Turpan tollgate of national highway 202.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

The 22 died on the spot, the officials said, and the injured were sent to hospitals. The victims were said to be mainly police officers, staff of a local professional dynamite dismantling company and journalists covering the event. No exact breakdown of the dead or their identities has yet been established.

Among the dead were a journalist from the Turpan Radio Station and one camcorder worker from the local TV station. Seven of the eight trucks that held the fireworks were totally destroyed. A fire caused by the explosion was quickly extinguished.