The Ministry of Public Security has dispatched a team to probe a blast involving a truck carrying fireworks on an expressway in central China's Henan Province on Friday morning.

Headed by Huang Ming, vice minister of public security, the team is on its way to the site of the accident in Mianchi County, Sanmenxia City, sources with the ministry told Xinhua.

Huang will direct the rescue work and lead an investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident.

An expressway bridge partially collapsed after an explosion occurred on a truck carrying fireworks in Mianchi County. So far, eight people have been confirmed dead.

The expressway links Lianyungang City in east China's Jiangsu Province and Horgos, a border port in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the country's far west.