JIANGSU PROVINCE, China (Reuters) — Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Xuzhou said on Friday (June 16) that the death toll in a blast that occurred just outside a local kindergarten has risen to eight, state media reported.
Xuzhou city mayor Zhou Tiegen told an early-morning news conference that 65 people have been injured, with eight remaining in critical condition.
No kindergarten students or teachers were injured in the blast.
Zhou said that authorities have opened a criminal probe into the explosion and identified a suspect.
A staff at Feng County People’s Hospital told CCTV that the injured have been “actively treated.”
The blast took place around 5 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Thursday (June 15) near the entrance of the Chuangxin kindergarten in Xuzhou, in the coastal province of Jiangsu, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Blasts and other accidents are common in China, because of patchy enforcement of safety rules, although the government has pledged to improve checks to stamp out such incidents.