Blast in north China kills at least seven: hospital

An explosion in a building in northern China has killed at least seven people, one of them a child, and injured dozens of others, local hospitals said Monday.

The cause of the blast, which happened early Monday in the city of Xian, was not immediately clear, but the official Xinhua news agency quoted a witness as saying it appeared to be a gas explosion at a first-floor restaurant.

Photographs purportedly of the scene posted online showed debris and broken glass outside a modern high-rise building.

"Thirteen people were sent to our hospital, and three died -- two male adults and a three-year-old girl. One is in critical condition," a doctor surnamed Han at the Shaanxi Renmin Hospital told AFP.

Another 19 people injured in the blast were sent to the Xian Gaoxin Hospital and four of those had died, a nurse surnamed Wu told AFP.

The condition of the other 15 people was not clear.

Doctors said victims had suffered head and facial injuries, Xinhua said.

Xinhua said the building was an office tower in Gaoxin district of Xian, a city famous for its terracotta warriors.

Photos posted online showed a number of fire engines and ambulances parked on the street outside the building.

The blast appeared to have shattered the windows of the first two floors of the tower, with glass, parts of the building and other debris littering the ground. Cars parked nearby were badly damaged.

An official at the local public security bureau told AFP that emergency workers were still attending to casualties and they did not yet know the total number of dead and injured.

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