A fresh explosion rocked a southern Chinese town early on Thursday damaging a six-storey building, a day after parcel bombs triggered 17 explosions killing seven people and injuring over 50.
The blast took place about 8 am (local time) in Liucheng county in China’s southwestern Guangxi province as the country celebrated its National Day.
The explosion occurred in a civilian’s house near the local highway administration bureau in Liucheng, state-run Xinhua news agency said stating that no casualties were reported.
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The explosion caused damage to a six-storey building, with bricks scattered around, the report said.
While officials said it was not a terrorist attack, the state-agency reported that police have arrested a 33-year-old, surnamed Wei who hails from Dapu township in Guangxi.
Wei hired others to help deliver letter bombs, police said without assigning reasons for his violent actions.
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Liuzhou authorities have tightened supervision over delivery packages, with the local branch of state-owned mail delivery company China Post halting all its mail deliveries until Saturday.
Police warned the public not to accept materials delivered by strangers, nor should they accept parcels received via unofficial channels.
Initial investigations suggest that Wednesday’s explosions were caused by 17 package bombs, with blasts reported in more than a dozen locations, including government offices, a prison, a train station, a hospital and a shopping centre.
Seven people were killed and 51 injured. Photos posted on social media showed portions of multi-storey buildings gutted and collapsed, and streets littered with glass, bricks and other debris.
Surveillance video footage of one explosion showed a person catapulted out when bomb went off in a market store.
The blasts apparently were triggered by devices placed inside express delivery packages, Xinhua reported.
The timing of the explosions were intriguing as they took place ahead of China’s National Day today which also marks the 60th anniversary of integration of the volatile Xinjiang province in China as an autonomous province.
All Chinese cities are under thick blanket of security this year following a number of sword attacks by the militants East Turkistan Islamic Movement, (ETIM) which has become active in Xinjiang where native Uyghur Muslims were restive over the settlements of Han Chinese in recent years.