(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-11 11:43

CHANGSHA -- Six people were confirmed dead and two went missing when a blast went off at a firecracker plant in central China's Hunan Province on Saturday.

Two others were slightly injured in the accident, which occurred at around 2:50 p.m. at Dahu Firecrackers Co. in Liuyang City, one of China's biggest firecracker production bases, the local government said on Sunday.

An investigation has been launched and officials refused to give immediate comments.

Firework manufacturing has a history of 1,300 years in Liuyang, a city with 1.33 million people about 66 km from the provincial capital Changsha.

Last month, the city lit what it labeled "the world's longest string of firecrackers", one that stretched 20 km and exploded for 68 minutes, to gain publicity for the local fireworks industry.

The attempt was blasted by Chinese media as "ridiculous" and a waste of money.