Wang Yingjie, chief of the Haikou Public Security Bureau, said at a press conference that the explosion took place at 5:20 p.m. Saturday at the Hainan Academy of Agriculture as some staff members were illegally using and packing flammable and detonable materials in a storehouse on the first floor of a three-story office building.

The three people killed in the explosion were two workers involved in the operation and a female staff member named Lin Hong, who was working an extra shift in a room above the storehouse, said Wang.

He added that the injured people are mainly adults and children who were playing on a basketball court nearby. But he did not give more information about the flammable and detonable materials.

After the explosion, over 200 firefighters rushed to the spot, and it took them four hours to rescue a 10 year-old girl who was with her mother Lin Hong when the explosion occurred.

Five firefighters suffered slight poisoning during the operation, said the police chief.

Wang said the local police are carrying out an investigation into the explosion, and those responsible for the explosion, including people involved in illegal purchasing and selling, storing, transporting and using of the flammable and detonable materials, will be dealt with according to law.

Wang Guangxuan, deputy secretary of Hainan provincial committee of the Communist Party of China, Yu Xun and Han Zhizhong, vice-governors of the province, also went to the explosion site to coordinate the rescue operation.

(Xinhua 07/09/2001)