The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Beijing

An explosion rocked a Chinese village and a construction lift plummeted to the ground in a provincial capital on Saturday, killing at least 32 people, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The blast in Donggancheng village, in central Henan province, happened just after 1 a.m. when detonators being illegally stored by a villager were set off, Xinhua said, citing officials with the local work safety office.

The explosion flattened more than 10 homes, killing at least 15 people and injuring nine others, Xinhua said. Police were pursuing suspects behind the blast, it added.

Separately, a lift carrying workers at a residential development being built in Changsha, Hunan province, crashed to the ground at around 7:30 a.m., killing at least 17 and seriously injuring another, Xinhua said.

China's construction industry has been hit by a string of deadly accidents in the past months, including the collapse of a half-built subway tunnel in November that killed at least 17.

Officials have vowed to improve work safety, but industrial and mining accidents continue to kill thousands each year.

Donggancheng village, the site of Saturday's explosion, was hit by a similar deadly blast in 2006, at an illegal workshop for making detonators, used in coal mines.