At least 41 people, most of them children, were killed when an explosion ripped through an elementary school in central China and one official said yesterday that fireworks could be to blame.
The blast tore through the center of the two-story building in the village of Fanglin in the eastern province of Jiangxi just before noon on Tuesday while nearly 200 schoolchildren and teachers attended class, officials said.
"Most probably it is because of firecrackers, but a final result will come out after investigators convene," said a government spokesman in Wanzai County, where Fanglin is located in the township of Tanbu. "I don't know right now how they could cause this explosion," he added.
Unconfirmed reports on Chinese Web sites suggested children in the school were making fireworks in their classrooms to raise pocket money. One county official formally denied the reports.
Four classrooms were leveled and officials said that in addition to the 41 dead, about 30 people were injured -- burned, crushed or both.
Another Wanzai county official said yesterday that all the bodies had been recovered from the rubble. "We are so busy all day long, consoling families members of the dead," he added.
Provincial officials had gone to the scene to spearhead the probe into the blast and soldiers had cordoned off the area, officials said.
County officials said earlier they were awaiting confirmation from investigators that fireworks were involved in the blast.
The investigators had not issued a report by late afternoon, the county spokesman said. "The spot is blocked off and nobody knows the developments," he added.
Cash-strapped Chinese schools do sometimes rent out space to businesses to raise money.
Last month, state television reported a room rented out by one Shanghai school was used as a gambling den. While children played outside, older people were inside playing mahjong.
Whatever the cause, the school blast devastated a community and left several children fighting for their lives.
A Tanbu township hospital said it had transferred nine of the most seriously injured to better equipped county hospitals.
State television showed pictures of rescue workers, including dozens of soldiers, rooting through the rubble, some using mattocks or spades but many using just their bare hands.
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