China wall collapse kills seven children

BEIJING, June 26 (Reuters) Seven Chinese children died when the wall of a sports centre collapsed during a storm, a newspaper said today.

High winds yesterday in northern Shaanxi province blew down a telegraph pole which demolished the 20-metre wall next to where a group of 10-year-old children were having a taekwondo lesson.

''The children died of head injuries before they got to hospital,'' a doctor was quoted as saying by the Huashang newspaper.

Li Tangtang, vice-governor of the province, visited 10 injured children in hospital and said officials were investigating the cause of the accident.

REUTERS SI PC1325