Nine people died and 35 were injured in two separate explosions across China on Saturday. In Northeast China's Liaoning Province, a blast killed eight and injured 19 at Liaoyang Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary firm of China National Petrochemical Corp (CNPC).
While in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a bus explosion killed one and injured at least 16.
Both sets of injured are recovering in hospital, according to sources Monday.
A polyethylene container exploded in the petrochemical company's No 3 workshop around 7:30 am.
Another container was shielded from the flames within minutes by the company's firemen.
The spokesman said the State Economic and Trade Commission sent a special inspection team Monday to the company for further investigation.
The company said it will compensate the families of the dead and injured.
The No 3 workshop developed its equipment earlier this year by investing more than 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million), said the company spokesman.
Liaoyang Petrochemical Company is one of the biggest chemical firms in Liaoning Province.
The second blast occurred around noon on a long-distance bus in Hezhou.
The driver and conductor were among the injured. A report said the driver managed to stop the engine after his right foot and lower part of right leg were blown off.
Local traffic police, who were patrolling the road, arrived at the scene in less than 10 minutes.
Local police Monday denied it was a terrorism activity, as reported by some local media.
According to a police spokesman, the explosion from the engine was probably caused by a circuit fault.
Early warning signs, such as smoke, could not have been detected by the driver, according to the spokesman, as there was too much luggage on the hood at the time.
During the Spring Festival holiday, long-distance buses were often overloaded with passengers and luggage, according to the police spokesman.
(China Daily February 26, 2002)
