At Least 16 Die In China Factory Blast: Police (Updated)

From AFP:

At least 16 people have died and 43 have been injured in a factory explosion in eastern China’s Anhui province, a police source and state media have said.

The explosion occurred at 03:17 am (1917 GMT) in the workshops of a privately owned factory that produces and processes quartz sand in the district of Fengyang, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities.

“At the moment we have 16 dead confirmed,” a local policeman, who declined to give his name, told AFP.

Update: The factory owner and his son have been arrested, according to China Daily:

Cao Peijun, boss of the Jingxin Mining Co Ltd in Fengyang county, Chuzhou city, was captured by police fleeing with 2 million yuan ($292,000) in cash he had withdrawn from the bank.

Cao’s son, one of the senior managers of the company, gave himself up to police in the afternoon.

The mining plant was completely flattened by the explosion, leaving only bricks strewn over the site. A hole 5-m deep and as wide as 10 m was visible at the scene.

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