Two suspects in the Shanxi hospital blast that claimed 31 lives
surrendered to police on Thursday.
Wang Jinsheng and Wang Guohua had been in hiding since the
explosion on April 10, and police had offered a reward of 100,000
yuan (US$12,500) for information leading to the apprehension of
Wang Jinsheng.
Wang Jinsheng, 41, is an administrative officer of the staff
hospital affiliated to the Xuangang Coal and Electricity Company in
Yuanping city, Shanxi Province.
A police statement said he admitted storing more than two tons
of explosives, which he bought for use in his private coal mine, in
a garage of the hospital 10 days earlier, with the help of his
31-year-old chauffeur Wang Guohua.
Initial investigations suggested a spontaneous ignition of the
explosives had caused the blast.
The explosion at about 2:25?AM on Monday has totally
flattened a two-storey building and six small houses nearby. The
garage was on the ground floor of the two-storey building.
A five-storey hospital staff residential building was damaged
seriously and unfit to live in. Buildings within one kilometer from
the blast site were damaged to varying degrees.
The local government has provided accommodation for more than
140 people who were left homeless.
Those who were injured in the blast have been transferred to the
Yuanping People's Hospital and Yuanping Railway Hospital for
treatment.
Police have searched the company for dangerous explosives,
chemicals, radioactive substances and carried out safety
inspections on its fuel oil storage and fire control
facilities.
(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2006)