None of the people missing after the explosion at a gunpowder plant near the Russian city of Ryazan are believed to have survived, an informed source told Interfax.

"No survivors were found during an examination of the site of the fire," the source said.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said earlier that seven people were dead, ten were injured and another nine were missing as a result of the fire at the gunpowder plant near Ryazan. In all, 17 people were in the workshop when the explosion occurred.

Thus, the death toll from the accident has reached 16.