CHENGDU - A blast ripped through a shopping mall in downtown Luzhou City in Southwest China's Sichuan province on Thursday night, local authorities said.

It is not immediately known whether the blast has caused any casualties. Firefighters and ambulances have already rushed to the scene.

Photos posted on the Twitter-like service Sina weibo show a person ?carried in a stretcher, smoke billowing from a building and a section of road littered with shattered glass.

The explosion has caused a nearby bus station to collapse. Witness say at least two cabs were damaged.