An explosion killed 16 people and injured other eight Wednesday night in Jiaokou county of north China's Shanxi Province, local authorities said.

The explosion occurred at 10:15 p.m. Wednesday in Huilong village of Jiaokou county in east part of Shanxi.

Initial police investigation showed that the explosion was caused by self-made explosive stored in a villager's house. The villager, surnamed Han, and all his family members died in the blast.

The explosion left a three-meter-wide and two-meter-deep pit, with 12 houses of four families leveled and some vehicles damaged.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2004)