47 people were killed and more than 20 injured early this morning in a blast allegedly caused by privately stored explosives in Ningwu County, north China's Shanxi Province.

The explosion happened at about 6:30 AM in a villager's home in Dongzhai Village, Dongzhai Township, local police sources confirmed.

Preliminary investigations suggest that a fire triggered the explosion.

Recounting the event over the telephone, a worker with the Ningwu County Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said that it started with a fire in one of the villager's homes. Other villagers rushed to help extinguish the fire.

While the villagers were trying to put out the fire, there was an explosion that killed 37 villagers on the spot.

The house was blown to pieces. Windows in adjacent houses were also shattered by the explosion, according to the county Party committee worker, whose identity is unknown.

Zhang Baoshun, secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the CPC, has demanded that all-out efforts be made to save the injured, and those responsible for the explosion must be punished.

Ningwu County, administered by Xinzhou City, is more than four hours by bus from Taiyuan, the provincial capital.

A rescue headquarters has been set up. It is led by local government officials and consists of seven specialized task forces.

More than 200 fire fighters, armed police and public security officers have been mobilized to clear the debris.

With vast coal reserves, Shanxi Province, described as a "sea of coal, is the biggest coal producer in China. However, scores of fatal accidents occur in the province each year, many caused by the illegal storage of explosives used for mining.

Last July, a gas explosion at the Jiajiabao Coal Mine killed 36 people and injured 11. The mine's owner hid the bodies of 17 dead miners after the explosion to evade punishment.  In April this year, more than three tons of explosives illegally hidden in the garage of a staff hospital affiliated to the Xuangang Coal and Electricity Company in Yuanping City were accidentally detonated, killing 34 people.

In June, 10 people were killed when privately stored explosives went off in a residential building in Fanshi County.

(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2006)