MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti) - Police have begun an investigation into a series of explosions that killed at least seven people overnight at an ammunition factory in central Serbia, the country's interior minister said on Friday.

At least four blasts occurred around 10:00 p.m. (20:00 GMT) on Thursday in the town of Uzice, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) southwest of the capital, Belgrade, Ivica Dacic said.

Six of the seven victims were women. Another 14 people were injured.

The Prvi Partizan factory employs some 600 people. Around 100 people were at the factory when the blasts occurred.

There is as yet no information on the cause of the blasts. Firefighters prevented the resulting blaze spearing to a warehouse containing large amounts of live ammunition.

Serbian President Boris Tadic and Defense Minister Dragan Sutanova have expressed their condolences to the families of the dead and injured.

The factory has produced ammunition for nearly 80 years for the Serbian military and police, as well as for export.