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Blast in house kills 11 in Shanxi
4/3/2005 7:56

Shanghai Daily news

A blast in rural Linfen City, in Shanxi Province, killed a coal mine owner, who illegally stored explosives in his home, and at least 10 others on Wednesday. Eight people were injured.
Local authorities said the mishap occurred about 4:10pm on Wednesday in Kecheng Town's Hougou Village.
Among those killed were two primary school students and a teacher of a school located next to the villager's house, according to the China News Service.
The students were identified as 9-year-old boy, Liu Weiwei, and girl Yang Jing, 7. The school teacher was Liu Yanjie, 34.
The eight injured were two students and six local villagers, the news agency said, adding that two of the injured were hospitalized in Kecheng while the other six were sent to Linfen.
The coal mine owner, Lu Maolin, also operated a restaurant and a drugstore locally.
Linfen officials said seven people, including Lu, were killed instantly in the explosion, and four others died later despite emergency treatment at hospital.
Shanxi Party Secretary Tian Chengping and Governor Zhang Baoshun have ordered Linfen authorities to spare no effort in treating the injured and further confirm the number of casualties.
Meanwhile, Liang Bin, Shanxi's deputy governor, has arrived at the scene with officials from other provincial government departments as investigation continues into the cause of the mishap.
The northern province is one of the country's major coal resource regions.