Chinese police arrest suspect after fatal explosion

BEIJING—Police have arrested the suspected owner of an illegal detonator workshop in northern China and are seeking another suspect after two explosions left five people dead and nine injured, state media reported.
“The detained suspect is surnamed Zhao, who ran the workshop with another suspect surnamed Zuo in rented houses,” said a police officer in Ulanqab city, Inner Mongolia, quoted by the official Xinhua news agency.
Two detonator explosions within half an hour occurred around midday on Thursday in a residential area of Jining district in Ulanqab, the report said.
The blasts flattened nine rooms in four buildings and damaged dozens more. The number of casualties may rise as rescuers are still clearing the debris, according to the police officer.
At least three of the injured are described as critical, doctors and family members said Friday, Xinhua reported.
Police said the workshop was probably exploiting business opportunities in the widespread illegal mining industry in Inner Mongolia, according to the report.
The illegal production of detonators often leads to fatal accidents in China, Xinhua said.
Early this month, five people died and another was injured in an explosion in an illegal workshop for electronic detonators in northern China’s Hebei province.—APP