China explosion and lift collapse kill at least 32

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 injured nine others, Xinhua said. Police have detained the owner of the house where the blast occurred, which he had rented out, 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 people and seriously injuring another, Xinhua said.

It cited a construction worker as saying the lift, which was designed to carry 12 people, had been carrying 18 workers.

Police have detained the company's general manager, the project chief of the construction site and the operator of the lift, it added.

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.

(Reporting by Jason Subler and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Valerie Lee)