Seven dead, 13 injured in Chinese truck explosion

Seven people died and 13 were injured after a truck transporting industrial explosives detonated in north-west China this week, the local government said Thursday.

A truck loaded with more than 5 tons of explosives detonated late Tuesday while parked outside a warehouse in Zhen'an County, Shaanxi province, local authorities said on the micro-blogging platform Weibo.

The seven victims were truck drivers, warehouse staff and security guards, the government said. Of the 13 people injured, 12 remained hospitalized and one was discharged from the hospital Thursday.

The warehouse belongs to a mining construction and explosion operations business in Shaanxi province. The truck was transporting chemicals from Henan province.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation.

Industrial and construction-related accidents are frequent in China, which still grapples with enforcing better work safety regulations.