Blasts at Chinese explosives plants kill 28

BEIJING, Apr 2 (Reuters) A blast at a Chinese explosives plant killed at least 20 workers while another eight died when a firecracker factory blew up, Xinhua news agency reported today.

Of the 11 other people at the explosives plant when a packing workshop blew up on Saturday, two were injured and the rest were missing, it said, citing a local government official. The plant was in Zhaoyuan, a city in eastern China's Shangdong province.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation, as was the Saturday detonation at the firecracker factory in north China's Shanxi province, where one more person was missing.

Reuters CH BD1705