NEW DELHI - At least 11 people, mostly women and children, were killed and seven injured in an explosion at a firecracker factory in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal early Thursday morning, said police.

The blast took place at Pingla in West Midnapore district of the state.

Some of the injured are in critical condition and so the toll may rise, said superintendent of police Bharati Ghosh.

The factory's owner has absconded for being suspected of disguising the factory as a cracker factory to make bombs, said police.