Three people injured during an explosion at a fireworks disposal operation in Turpan City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region late on Wednesday died, bringing the death toll from the accident to 25.

Five others were missing, according to Zheng Qiang, deputy secretary of the Turpan Prefectural Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The accident happened at about 7:00 PM, when authorities in Turpan city were destroying eight truckloads of fireworks in the Gobi desert about seven to eight kilometers from the Turpan tollgate of national highway 202.

The blast killed 22 people on the spot and injured 10 others.

(Xinhua News Agecny March 27, 2008)