A lorry explosion on Tuesday that killed eight people in
Shantou, a coastal city in south China's Guangdong
Province, also critically injured five, according to China
Daily today.
Huang Donghua, from Shantou Information Office, told the paper
that senior city officials have urged Chenghai Overseas Chinese
Hospital and the No.2 Hospital affiliated to Shantou University's medical
school to do their best to save the injured and minimize the
possibility of more deaths.
Four died in hospital on Tuesday night, while four bodies were
later discovered at the explosion site.
Huang said that the blast happened at about 4 PM on Tuesday when
workers were loading toys into a container at a goods yard in the
city's Chenghai District, one of the nation's key toy supply
bases.
Witness Lin Pengzi said he saw victims' limbs fly from the
explosion, leaving onlookers in a state of shock.
The explosion left the container on fire, which in turn ignited
another container lorry being loaded with toys and some vehicles
nearby.
The ensuing blaze was extinguished in about half an hour.
Huang said the municipal government has set up a team to examine
the cause of the accident and deal with its aftermath, including
support and compensation for victims' families.
Though its cause was not yet clear, eyewitnesses said they
believed the powder-loaded toy guns in the container may have
triggered the explosion.
(China Daily October 20, 2005)