Friday, July 7 2006 10:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: At least 43 people were killed and 28 others injured in northern China today (JUly 7, 2006)after a crowd gathered to watch a burning house which then exploded,residents and state press reports said.

The explosion occurred around 6.30 am local time (0400 IST) at a home in Dongzhai village, Shanxi province, Xinhua news agency said, giving the death toll but no details about the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Two residents said the death toll was so high because people had gathered around the burning house to watch the events, after which there was a huge explosion.

"The house first caught fire so a lot of villagers were standing around watching when it suddenly exploded," the villager who identified himself only as Li told sources by phone.

Another resident gave a similar account.

"A lot of people were standing around the home to watch the fire and then it exploded," said the resident, who did not want to give her name.

Li and the woman said they did not know what kind of explosives were being stored in the home, which they described as an ordinary one-storey village house.

Shanxi province is China's biggest coal mining production area and a region where accidental explosions of illegally stored explosives occur frequently.

Ningwu county police said that an investigation was ongoing, but initial reports suggested that the explosion was an accident. Police refused to rule out that illegally stored explosives may have been involved in the blast.