Update: Five missing in factory explosion in China's Baotou

HOHHOT, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Preliminary checks indicated that five people remain unaccounted for, with no fatalities reported so far, after an explosion at a factory in western Baotou City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to local authorities.

The explosion occurred at a plate plant of Baogang United Steel at around 3 p.m. on Sunday, said the city's emergency management bureau. The blast caused noticeable tremors in its surrounding areas.

The number of injured is still being determined.

Multiple injured people have been rescued earlier, as rescue forces from the autonomous region and the city have arrived at the scene.

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation. ■