ROME (AFP) - A blast in an Italian fireworks factory killed two people on Wednesday and injured four others when the building collapsed, Italian media reported.

Another person was missing in the incident near the town of Tagliacozzo in the Apennine mountains in central Italy.

Witnesses said there were three blasts within fifteen minutes at around 1200 GMT, sparking a fire inside.

A man working out in a gym near the site said the ground shook and he was thrown to the ground by the last explosion.

Four people were killed last year in a similar accident at a fireworks factory in Pescara.