Children at bomb blast school 'were making fireworks'

Children as young as eight are thought to have been making fireworks when their school exploded in south- east China.

At least 41 people are believed to have been killed in the blast.

A doctor who treated the injured said 45 pupils, aged eight or nine, were putting the fuses into firecrackers at the school in the province of Jiangxi.

"The third grade pupils were working on firecrackers in their classroom on the first floor," said the doctor at Tanbu township hospital.

"In the third grade classroom there were 45 pupils. Only two or three are still alive."

The official Xinhua news agency said an explosion rocked the two-storey primary school in Wanzai county at 11.10am Singapore time (0310 GMT) on Tuesday.

It said 41 people were killed, but the cause of the explosion was still being investigated.