Tunnel explosion injures dozens in SW China

Black smoke is seen while crowds of tourists gather in Luodai, a tourist town in Southwest China's Sichuan province after an explosion occured at a nearby tunnel construction site, Feb 24, 2015. Chengdu Economic Daily posted the photo on SinaWeibo. (Photo/SinaWeibo)

At least 20 injured people were sent to the hospital on Tuesday afternoon after an explosion at a tunnel construction site scared off tourists in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Two of the hospitalized were suffering serious injuries, while the others were treated for bruises, according to the Chengdu Economic Daily

The blast occurred in Luodai, a tourist town 30 km away from the provincial capital of Chengdu city. The town was packed with visitors sight seeing during the seven-day Lunar New Year holidays.

Photos of black smoke billowing in the air were posted on SinaWeibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service, immediately after the incident happened.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and evacuated nearby villagers.