At least 47 people were killed and 20 injured in a northern Chinese coal mining town yesterday after a crowd gathered to watch a burning house that then exploded, residents and state press reports said.
Xinhua news agency reported that privately stored explosives were responsible for the blast that occurred at about 6:30am at a home in the village of Dongzhai in Shanxi Province.
Xinhua and residents said the death toll was so high because people had gathered to watch events after the house caught fire. The explosion occurred as villagers rushed to help put out the blaze.
"The house first caught fire, so a lot of villagers were standing around watching when it suddenly exploded," a villager named Li said.
Another resident gave a similar account: "A lot of people were standing around the home to watch the fire, and then it exploded," said the resident, who did not want to give her name.
Xinhua, citing local police, said a preliminary investigation showed the fire had triggered the explosion.
Villagers described the house as an ordinary one-story home that they suspected had been an illegal storage site for explosives to be used in coal mining.
"There are a lot of people in Xinzhou Prefecture who are running private mines and storing up explosives," said a third resident, who also did not want to identify herself. "I don't know if the home belonged to a mine owner, but a lot of people work in mines here."
Shanxi Province is China's biggest coal mining area and a region where accidental explosions of illegally stored explosives have previously occurred.
In April, at least 34 people were killed when illegally stored explosives owned by a private mine operator blew up in a hospital compound in Shanxi.
At least 10 people were killed and 18 injured in a blast at a local government leader's house in neighboring Shaanxi Province last month. That blast was also linked to mining explosives.
Another mining tragedy in Ningwu County -- where yesterday's explosion happened -- occurred on July 2 last year, when a gas explosion at a coal mine killed 36 people and injured 11.
That explosion made headlines when the mine's owner hid the bodies of 17 dead workers to evade punishment.
Ningwu County police said that an investigation was being made into yesterday's blast and refused to rule out illegally stored explosives as the cause of the tragedy.
China's public security ministry announced a crackdown last month on the sale and storage of illegal explosives amid rising demand for coal from mines seeking to cash in on China's thirst for energy.
"There is a large demand for illegally made and trafficked explosives," said Xu Hui, a leading police official. "A lot of criminals are seeking big profits and they are ignoring risks and brazenly engaging in the illegal activities of making and trafficking explosives."
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