Reuters - A powerful
blast at a prefabricated house in northwestern China on Monday killed at least
seven people and injured 94, state news agency Xinhua said.
The explosion,
whose cause was as yet unknown, occurred in the early afternoon in the town of
Xinmin in Shaanxi province, damaging dozens of buildings including the local
hospital, Xinhua said.
Four of the
injured were in intensive care, it said.
Pictures
carried by state media showed rescuers digging through the rubble of low rise
buildings.
Some online
news sites quoted residents as saying the blast could have been caused by
illegally stored explosives.
China has a
bad safety record, with previous blasts blamed on poorly stored chemicals or
industrial explosives which are easy to get hold of due to their use in China's
booming coal mining sector.
A series of
powerful explosions last year at a chemicals warehouse in the northern city of
Tianjin killed 165.
There have
also been cases of people deliberately setting off blasts to settle local
grievances such as land disputes.
Reuters
0 Comments