GUANGZHOU - Ten people have been put under criminal investigation concerning a factory explosion that killed 18 people in South China's Guangdong province on New Year's Eve.

Management negligence and local authorities' inadequate supervision were partly to blame for the blast at Fuhua Machinery in Foshan City on December 31, 2014, the Foshan government said on Tuesday.

Fuhua Chairman Wu Zhiqiang and two deputy general managers are among the 10 under investigation.

Four officials who oversaw safety at Fuhua are also being probed, the government said.

A deputy head of the district government and 18 other officials have been disciplined by the Party following the incident, according to the government.