The incident also left over 100 others hurt.

As of 12 p.m. the searchers had found 150 people from the blast site in the city of Shiyan and rushed them to hospitals, according to the rescue headquarters, Xinhua news agency reported.

The accident occurred in a residential community in the city's Zhangwan District at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, trapping a large number of people, reported the Chinese news agency.

As per officials, casualty figure is expected to rise.