Bank explosion causes deaths, injuries in NW China

 

The 19 people, who were seriously injured in an explosion Friday morning at a rural bank in northwest China's Gansu Province, were in stable conditions, doctors from a local hospital said.

The explosion left 49 people injured, among whom 19 people suffered serious burns on the face and hands while 33 suffered slight injuries, Wang Gui, vice president of the People's Hospital in Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County.

The injuries of the 19 people were not life-threathening, Wang said.

The explosion occurred at the Rural Credit Cooperative in Tianzhu at around 8:30 a.m., while all bank employees were having a meeting.

The county government reported in the afternoon that police had apprehended a man suspected of setting fire to the bank.

Yang Xianwen, a former bank employee, allegedly ignited a bottle of gasoline and threw it into the bank.

The suspect, who fled the scene after the fire started, was caught by police at 5 p.m., said a spokesman with the county government.

Yang, who had been fired for embezzling public funds, allegedly started the fire out of revenge, according to the county government.

Tianzhu County is 128 km from Lanzhou, the provincial capital. One-third of the county's 210,000 residents are Tibetans.