A north China court has imposed a death penalty with a two-year reprieve on a man who was held responsible for a detonator blast that killed five people at the end of 2006.

Zuo Jianjun was sentenced for illegally producing, transporting and storing explosives, the Intermediate People's Court of Ulanqab City said on Monday.

Investigators said Zuo bought gunpowder from Shanxi Province between October and December, 2006, and tried to produce detonators with 10 other people in an illegal workshop at the Jining district of Ulanqab. A blast occurred on Dec. 28, killing five people, including two of those who were illegally producing the detonators, as well as three local women.

By then, the illegal workshop had produced at least 125,000 detonators. Such detonators, which only cost 50 cents to 1 yuan (0.06 to 0.13 U.S. dollars) to produce, can be sold for 10 yuan to 15 yuan on the black market.

The other eight suspects got jail terms ranging from two to 10 years, the court said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2008)