About 10 people were killed and other 11 were injured early Thursday when a powerful explosion ripped through a casino in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

"The blast took place in a slot machine hall of the Metro-Jack-Pot, which is located on the first floor of a five-apartment house in Dnipropetrovsk. Nine people were killed on the spot and another person died in a hospital later," an Emergency Ministry official was quoted as saying.

The injured were immediately sent to local hospitals, the report said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2009)