The death toll from an explosion in southwest China's Sichuan Province has risen to seven, local authorities said Wednesday.

The blast, which occurred on Tuesday at a small-scale goods distribution center in Yibin City, was also responsible for 97 others receiving medical treatment or being put under observation by 5 p.m. Wednesday, a local government official said.

Of the hospitalized, four were seriously injured and 20 have been discharged.

Local criminologists and experts on dangerous articles are probing the cause of the blast.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2009)