31 Chinese workers wounded in the Republic of Congo's arsenal blast arrived in Beijing on Saturday evening and were immediately sent to local hospital for further medical examination and treatment.

They were welcomed by Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng and other senior Beijing Municipal officials.

They took a chartered plane arranged by Beijing from the Maya Maya Airport of Brazzaville, capital of Republic of Congo, at 8:00 p.m. local time.

Xie, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, expressed deep condolence over the six workers who were killed in the blast and conveyed sincere consolation to their families and the injured workers.

Xie said, China's top leaders attached great importance to this issue and a working group, led by Beijing municipal government and including many departments such as the Foreign Ministry, was sent to the Republic of Congo to aid the treatment, transport of the injured and deal with the aftermath of the victims.

China thanks Republic of Congo's positive assistance in the process of treating, transporting and aftermath-dealing under tough circumstances, Xie said.

Several significant events relevant to Chinese nationals abroad have occurred recently, which shows that China's overseas safety risks are becoming "increasingly diverse" and security situation is becoming "more serious", Xie noted.

"China hopes its citizens and enterprises abroad improve risk awareness and prepare for the potential trouble," Xie said, adding that the Ministry will consistently work with other departments to safeguard the safety and legitimate interests of Chinese nationals and enterprises abroad.

The blast occurred at 8 a.m. on Sunday, local time, in Brazzaville.

The local government said it was caused by an electrical short circuit in an arms depot in Brazzaville, and had claimed more than 200 lives and wounded over 2,000.

The blast affected the nearby housing project under construction by Beijing Construction Engineering Group. Six Chinese workers out of about 140 who were working at the site were killed and a total of 45 were injured to different degrees.

Among them, 14 had relatively minor injuries. They are still in the Republic of Congo and will be arranged to come back to China as soon as possible.

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to the incident and were highly concerned with the Chinese nationals' safety.

Chinese President Hu Jintao called the president of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso, while Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Congo Basile Ikouebe. Both of them expressed condolence and consolation over the heavy casualty.

Chinese ambassador to the Republic of Congo rushed to the scene to cooperate in the rescue and guide relevant enterprises to cope with the aftermath of the incident.

The Chinese side also provided urgent aid to the Republic of Congo.

China dispatched a work team to the Republic of Congo Tuesday to rescue and comfort Chinese workers impacted by the blast.

Yang Zhiqiang, deputy secretary general of Beijing Municipal government led the team formed by members from the Department of Consular Affairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the municipal government departments and the workers' employer Beijing Construction Engineering Group.

Five Chinese medical experts also were dispatched to Brazzaville by Beijing shortly after the blasts to tend to the wounded.

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