NANJING -- Two were confirmed dead and 18 others were injured in a battery plant explosion in East China's Jiangsu province Tuesday, local authorities said.

The blast went off at around 6 p.m. at a lithium battery storehouse of Haisida Power Supply Co. Ltd. in the city of Qidong, the city government said in a statement.

It said 12 factory workers and eight firemen were landed in hospitals in Qidong and Nantong with injuries. Two critically-injured cases, including a worker and a fireman, died in hospital.

Authorities have closed down the plant and launched an investigation, it said.