At least two people were killed and ten others injured in an explosion that occurred at around 4:10 PM Thursday in downtown Urumqi, the capital city of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The blast left a nine-square-meter crater in the ground and a strong smell of natural gas, said Huang Gongyi, secretary-general of the Urumqi city government. Huang and other senior officials from the city and regional governments were coordinating rescue and cleanup efforts at the site.

Those who were injured have been hospitalized, but no report on their condition was immediately available.

Most of the casualties were pedestrians.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2005)