Three held over deadly China hospital blast

BEIJING, June 23 (Reuters) Chinese police have arrested three people over an explosion at a hospital in the northern province of Shanxi in April which killed 34 people, the official Xinhua news agency reported today.

Wang Jinsheng, 41, was arrested last month and accused of illegally trading, transporting and storing explosives in the hospital compound. Two men who allegedly sold detonators to Wang were arrested this month.

Police are still searching for a fourth person who is believed to have made the explosives, Xinhua said.

The blast occurred on April 10 in a garage of the Xuangang Coal and Power Co. Hospital, damaging buildings within 1 km radius.

Storage of explosives used for blasting mines is common in residential areas of coal-mining districts.

Reuters KD DB2044