Explosives stored in a Chinese farmer's home blew up in the early hours of today, killing 43 people and injuring 28, Xinhua news agency said.
The accident happened in Dongzhai village, in the northern coal-mining province of Shanxi, after the building had caught fire, Xinhua said.
A large crowd had gathered, some trying to put out the blaze, others just watching.
Some 37 villagers were killed on the spot and six died in hospital, Xinhua said.
"The villager's home was blasted into rubble," it said, quoting a local official.
Deadly blasts caused by privately stored explosives are not rare in Shanxi, where about a quarter of China's coal is produced.
In April, at least 33 people were killed and buildings flattened in the city of Yuanping when explosives stored by a former coal-mine owner blew up.
Ten villagers were killed in a gold-mining town in Shanxi in a blast at a family dynamite workshop in June.