Casualties, including passers-by were sent to the local hospital for emergency treatment. Most wounds were facial, said a newspaper, citing a doctor named Pan.

Initial investigations have concluded that a gas leak was to blame for the tragedy, but local public security sources said they had not ruled out criminal intent.

The residents were enjoying their weekend at home when the blast occurred at around 4:00 pm in the 18-storey building.

Part of a wall collapsed and all the windows were broken in the three apartments from the 12th to 14th floors.

The epicenter of the explosion was apartment 1302, whose owner, a company boss named Liu, returned home shortly after the tragedy to find that it had claimed the lives of some of his relatives.

Local newspaper New Culture quoted a witness who lived on the 10th floor and successfully escaped, as saying that he saw lots of rubble, broken glass window frames falling to earth after the deafening blast.

One of the walls in the building and its lift were also damaged. A car was also destroyed by pieces of falling masonry.

Policemen rushed to the scene to maintain order. The surrounding area was immediately sealed off as ambulance crews and medical workers rushed to the scene.

(China Daily December 30, 2002)