JI'NAN - Twenty-three people have been confirmed dead and 10 others remain missing after a blast ripped through an explosives manufacturing plant in East China's Shandong province on Monday.

The deceased include 13 people who had been confirmed dead by Tuesday and 10 others who were previously reported missing. The 10 missing were confirmed dead through DNA tests on the remains of their bodies, sources with the rescue headquarters said on Wednesday.

Rescuers are continuing their search for the 10 people still missing, sources said.

The blast, which occurred at 10:45 a.m. on Monday inside a three-story terraced workshop of a plant owned by Poly Explosives (Jinan) Co., Ltd. in Caofan Township, Zhangqiu City, also injured 19 people.

The injured are being treated in hospitals and they are in stable conditions, according to the headquarters.

A team of experts has been dispatched by the State Administration of Work Safety to the site to collect evidence, and an investigation into the cause of the blast is under way.