13 die in Chinese fireworks plant blast

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JINAN, China, May 2 (UPI) -- At least 13 people were killed Saturday in an explosion at an unlicensed fireworks factory operated out of a house in eastern China, officials said.

The blast in Yangzhuangzi, Qingyun County, in the province of Shandong was so forceful it broke windows and cracked walls in other houses in the village, Xinhua, the official government news agency, reported. The three-room house where the explosion occurred was destroyed.

At least two people were critically injured.

"Taking it for an earthquake, by instinct, I ran out of my home," a woman who lives nearby said.

Gao Lixia, a spokesman for the local Communist Party committee, said police were searching for the person who allegedly rented Yang Ziye's house and converted it to a fireworks factory.

Rescue workers used bulldozers to pull the debris apart, searching for survivors and the dead.