JINAN - At least one person has been confirmed dead and four other missing after an explosion ripped through a residential building in the coastal city of Weihai in East China's Shandong province early Monday morning.

The blast hit the building's sixth floor at around 1 am and subsequently caused a fire. In addition to the dead and missing, 10 people were injured. Among them, three sustained severe injuries, said rescuers.

The fire was put off in about 20 minutes. But the accident has caused damages from the ground floor to the seventh floor of the building, witnesses said.

The search and rescue work is continuing at the building located in Weihai Economic and Technology Development Zone.

Preliminary investigation indicated the blast was caused by a gas leak.