The death toll of a firecracker factory blast occurred Monday in Pubei County, Qinzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, rose to 31 by 20:00 Tuesday, with number of the injured up to 57, according to local government.

The Changling Firecracker Factory in Pubei County suffered a firecracker explosion at about 16:00 Monday afternoon. The injured have been hospitalized locally, and most of them were seriously wounded, the local government sources said.

The factory has more than 100 staff workers, said the sources.

Cause of the incident is under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency October 6, 2004)