Two killed, 44 injured in explosion near school in Guilin

Source: Xinhua | September 9, 2013, Monday |

Online Edition

Two people have been killed and 44 others injured in an explosion near a school in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region this morning.

A man and a woman were killed outright. The injured, including 22 students, were taken to hospital.

The rest of the injured are adults who were accompanying students to school or passersby, according to the publicity department of Guilin City.

China Central Television reported this afternoon 11 of the injured were critically injured.

The explosion struck about 7:10am as the students were arriving at the Balijie Primary School in Lingwu County of Guilin, a resort city in Guangxi.

Witnesses told Xinhua news agency a man riding a three-wheeled motorcycle passed the entrance to the school when the blast happened.

A Xinhua reporter saw a body lying at the site, which was cordoned off by local police.

"First, the motorcycle caught fire and then exploded with a tremendous noise that could be heard from far, far away," a witness told Xinhua.

A dozen motorcycles are scattered around the blast site and the window panes of cars and stores by the school were damaged.

Police are investigating the cause of blast.

Safety inspections will be conducted across the city of Guilin, in a search for illegal explosives , said a city government press release.

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