An explosion at a hospital in north China's Shanxi Province killed at least 27 people
yesterday and left the site looking a warzone littered with wrecked
buildings.
The death toll may rise, according to Xinhua.
The blast occurred at about 2:25?AM in an underground
garage of the staff hospital of Xuangang Coal and Electricity Co Ld
in Yuanping, local sources confirmed.
It destroyed a two-storey residence directly above and brought
down a section of a nearby five-storey building housing medical
staff. Buildings within a 1-kilometre radius suffered damage.
Twenty-seven bodies were found as of 11:00?PM and seven
people have been hospitalized.
Armed police were mobilized to help rescue efforts and rescuers
were digging through the debris for victims, said Li You, an
official with the hospital's security department.
A resident who lives about 2 kilometres from the blast site said
that windows in her neighbourhood were shattered when the explosion
shook the city.
An investigation into the cause of the explosion is under
way.
(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2006)