Two people were killed and 16 others injured Friday after an explosion hit a Foxconn plant in southwest China's Sichuan Province, said local authorities.

Relatives of Foxconn workers, who were injured in a plant explosion, wait outside a hospital ward in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 20, 2011. [Photo: Xinhua]

The blast occurred about 7 pm at a workshop in Hongfujin Precision Electronics (Chengdu) Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, located in the provincial capital of Chengdu, said a spokesman with the city's government.

The 16 injured workers were rushed to hospital where three of them were being treated for serious wounds, said the spokesman.

The cause of the explosion remained under investigation, said an officer with the city's public security bureau.

Foxconn, the world's largest electronics contractor, opened the $2 billion Chengdu plant in October last year to manufacture laptop computers.