Blast in house kills 11 in Shanxi
4/3/2005 11:40
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.
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