Sixteen people died when an explosion apparently caused by a fire in a gunpowder store levelled an apartment block in Yemen, the official news agency SABA has reported.
It said four people were injured in the blast, which happened last night in the province of Omran. All the casualties were residents of the four-storey building, it added.
SABA quoted a security source as saying the locally made gunpowder material, stored by the building's owner in a basement, caught fire and exploded.
Illegal weapons and explosives are widely available and traded in Yemen, which is combating Islamic militants loyal to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.