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Firecracker blast in northwest China kills 22

Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:58pm EDT
BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) - Twenty-two people were killed and 10 injured in an explosion in northwest China, apparently caused by local authorities trying to destroy firecrackers, Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.

The accident happened on Wednesday night when "city authorities" in Turpan, in China's northwestern Xinjiang region, were "destroying firecrackers on a desert seven to eight kilometres from the Turpan tollgate", Xinhua said, citing local officials.

The injured had been rushed to hospital and a fire had been extinguished, Xinhua said, without elaborating. It did not say whether any of the officials were among those killed.

An investigation was under way, the agency said.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Ken Wills and Sanjeev Miglani)


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