3 dead after firework blasts hit apartment blocks in Chinese city of Tianjin; suspect detained
- ‘Many’ others injured in the explosions at two separate housing blocks, police say
- A 46-year-old man has been arrested but police have yet to indicate any possible motive
Three people were killed and “many” others injured when explosions tore through two residential apartments in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Tuesday evening, police said.
A man suspected of using fireworks to cause the blasts in two complexes was detained, according to a police briefing posted on Wednesday on an official WeChat social media account.
The two blasts, which went off some time after 8pm, happened in the city’s Hedong district, home to over 900,000 people, including many ethnic minorities, according to Tianjin’s yearbook.
The two buildings are about 1.6km (1 mile) apart. Tianjin is about 100km (70 miles) southeast of the capital Beijing.
The injured people had been treated, police said, without providing further details.
A police briefing did not state a possible motive for the 46-year-old suspect, surnamed Ma, and it was not clear if he was known to the victims.
The incident came about a week before China holds its annual Dragon Boat Festival, where fireworks are often part of the celebrations.
China’s Ministry of Public Security recently kicked off the latest national “zero tolerance” crackdown on illegal guns and explosives, according to an official readout of a meeting from last Thursday.
US$1.5 million Chinese funeral with fireworks sparks debate on lavish customs
On Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, commenters said that the explosions felt like a “terrorist attack” or “revenge against the society”.
In May, four people died in Hebei province as officers at a police station inspected illegal fireworks that had been seized.
Two Hong Kong men arrested in connection with illegal fireworks display
In January, a person in the central province of Shanxi was injured when a teenager lit fireworks which had been bought from an unlicensed store in a public square. A court ordered the teen’s family and the owner of the store to compensate the victim financially.
