Police have detained the boss of a company for illegally storing explosives that triggered a deadly blast on Sunday in east China's Anhui Province, an official said.

Cao Peijun, boss of the Jingxin Mining Co. Ltd. in Fengyang County of Chuzhou City, was found illegally storing an estimated 5 to 7 tonnes of explosives in an office building in the factory compound, said Wang Tuqiang, vice mayor of Chuzhou.

Police were still trying to verify the power of the blast and the amount of explosives.

The explosives blew up at 3:17 AM, killing 16 people and injuring 43 others, including three seriously.

One of the three suffered a spleen burst and the other two had serious fractures, but they are in stable conditions, doctors said.

Soon after the accident, Wang Jinshan, secretary of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China, and provincial governor Wang Sanyun rushed to the scene to organize rescue operation and investigation.

The blast left a 5-meter-deep pit, which is 10 meters in diameter, razed the two-storey building and ripped through nearby workers' dormitories, dining halls and workshops.

Most of the victims were workers. They were struck by rubble as they slept. Many of the injured were residents who were hit by broken glass or debris, according to Wang.

Cao was captured by police fleeing with 2 million yuan (US$292,500) of cash he had drawn from the bank.

Cao's son, one of the senior managers of the company, gave himself up to the police in the afternoon.

The privately-owned company had about 60 employees and started production in 2003, registering 20 million yuan in fixed assets.

It processes about 30,000 tonnes of quartz sand annually, which are sold both in domestic market and in Southeast Asia and Europe.

The company has halted operation and its yard is cordoned off.

Police were questioning Cao over the source of the explosives and investigating how they went off.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2009)