A boiler explosion at a public bath house in downtown Shanghai yesterday afternoon killed seven people and sent another seven to hospitals with burns and other injuries.

The blast, which occurred at 3:38 pm, leveled the two-story Yiquan Bathhouse, which was located in a crowded and dilapidated residential area on Ruihong Road in the northern Hongkou District.

Police are still investigating the cause of the explosion and have taken the owners of the bathhouse into custody for questioning. Police wouldn't reveal their names.

The explosions tore apart the boiler room and both bathrooms. Police said most of the victims are female as the women's change room was just next door to the boiler room.

The scene after the explosion was clutter of wardrobes, towels, chairs and bricks scattered around the small road.

"There was just one blast, but it shook my house," said the manager of a drugstore just opposite the bathhouse.

"I rushed to see what happened, but the hot steam made me very uncomfortable," the store manager said. "I just saw many people lying on the ground. When the firefighters arrived, I saw them carrying out many, I mean, about seven to eight people with their heads covered by clothes. I guess they've died."

Another local resident said he was lucky to avoid the blast.

"I had just finished taking a bath there at about 2 pm -- at that time more than 20 people were inside," said the man. "I think the owners will be charged and put into jail, because I know that they used diesel oil instead of wood in the boiler -- that is very dangerous."

The wounded were rushed to the nearby Xinhua Hospital, Yangpu District Central Hospital and Shanghai No 1 People's Hospital.

"All of them were in critical conditions when they arrived here. Two were already dead," said a nurse at the emergency department of Xinhua Hospital, which received six victims.

"The other four patients have received emergency operations and are being kept in the intensive care unit," she added.

"My niece took a bath every week at this bathroom at about 3:00 pm," said the uncle of Wang Haiying as he waited outside the ward. "No one could imagine this will happen."

Doctors said Wang, a saleswoman with the Shanghai No 1 Yaohan Department Store in Pudong, had burns on 25 percent of her body.

"I cannot remember what happened," said Xing Huilin, lying in a bed at Xinhua Hospital. Her upper body was covered in bruises and cuts from the blast, while her burned legs were wrapped in bandages.

(eastday.com December 4, 2003)