A fireworks plant explosion in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has killed three people and injured eight others, official with the local government said Sunday.

The explosion occurred at around 7:20 a.m. Sunday in a firecrackers workshop in the remote Xiushan County, mainly inhabited by Tujia and Miao ethnic minorities, in southwestern Chongqing, said Zhang Zezhou, Xiushan's Party chief.

The blast has killed three people and injured eight others, among which four are severely wounded. The blast has leveled several houses and casualties may rise as rescuers searched the debris for more bodies, the official said.

The county government has organized seven teams of rescue, work safety, police, medical and consolation staffs to handle the accident. Investigation into its cause is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2007)