Investigations are underway after a gas tank explosion tore through a single-story factory building, killing two people in northwest China on Tuesday.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, seven others were injured when the blast rocked the small-scale factory that produced foam for fruit packaging in Aksu Prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Six people suffered serious burns and remain in a critical condition in a local hospital.

Local police said yesterday that the building, some distance away from residential areas and near a state-level highway, was almost torn down and 11 liquefied natural gas tanks tossed into the air.

Two neighboring empty storehouses were also affected.

Authorities dispatched six fire engines and 40 firefighters to tackle the blaze, and it took them one and half an hour to extinguish it.

The owner has reportedly gone missing since the accident, and a police source said "authorities are discussing how to compensate victims."

Xinhua said more than 30 gas tanks and oxygen cylinders were stored in the building at the time of the explosion.

(China Daily August 11, 2005)