An explosion tore apart a fireworks factory in southeastern China Thursday, killing two people and injuring six others, a government official said.

The factory's brick walls are reduced to piles of rubble and nearby trees are stripped of limbs and leaves. [newsphoto.com.cn]

The blast at the Minhou Jingxi Fireworks Factory in Fujian province was China's second fatal fireworks accident in four days. An explosion blamed on hot weather killed 29 people on Monday in the town of Wangkou in the northern province of Hebei.

The blast in Fujian killed two factory workers, said An Yuanjie, a spokeswoman for the Beijing State Administration for Work Safety.

It also left 13 people missing. It said the cause was under investigation.

Houses up to 400 meters (yards) away were damaged.

``It shook our doors and windows,'' said Li Xiaoyan, a student who was reached by telephone in the town of Jingxi, two kilometers (one mile) from the blast site.

Homes near the site of the Wangkou explosion had been evacuated after crews clearing away debris from the blast found a stockpile of seven tons of undetonated explosives.

Experts on Thursday were trying to figure out how to remove the explosives safely, China Central Television reported on its Web site.

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