Explosion at car workshop in eastern China kills between 40 and 65 people

BEIJING – An explosion at a car workshop in eastern China on Saturday morning killed between 40 and 65 people, state media reported.

State broadcaster CCTV said in a brief report that the blast in Kunshan city in Jiangsu province left 65 people dead. The official Xinhua News Agency put the death toll at more than 40 with over 120 people injured.

The blast occurred at 7:37 a.m. at a car polishing workshop of a metal products company, Xinhua said.

Officials were investigating the cause of the blast and working on rescue efforts and providing medical treatment.

Calls to the city's government and police rang unanswered. A man who answered the phone at the city's work safety bureau said he did not have any information on the blast.

Kunshan is about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) southeast of Beijing.