An early morning explosion in Xing'an county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, has left seven dead and 17 wounded on Thursday, local police said in an official notice.

The blast occurred at 1:40 am on Lingxiang Road in Xing'an.

Following the incident, officials from Guilin city and Xing'an county rushed to the scene immediately to coordinate rescue operations alongside police, fire, health and emergency response teams.

Rescuers have since completed four rounds of thorough site searches. All 17 injured people have been hospitalized and are currently in stable condition with no life-threatening wounds.

Meanwhile, on-site rescue operations remain underway, police said.

Preliminary investigations have ruled out a pipeline gas leak as the trigger for the blast.

Police are continuing their probe to identify the exact cause of the explosion.