ONE PERSON HAS BEEN arrested after an explosion in China’s Uyghur region killed seven people and injured 14 others.
The bomb struck in Aksu city, 650km west of the region’s capital, Urumqi. The arrested man allegedly drove an electric tricycle into a crowd of people in the city.
The region was the site of rioting last summer, as violence erupted between the Uighurs who are native to the region, and Han Chinese, who have increased in numbers through government settlement programmes and appointments.
Almost 200 people were killed in the rioting, and 1,700 injured. The government subsequently cut off internet services to the region for months afterwards and arrested hundreds of people in connection with the rioting.
Separately, all fireworks factories in the notheastern province of Heilongjiang have been shut down after an explosion at one of the factories killed 20 people and injured 150 others.
The factory’s permit had been cancelled in June amid safety concerns, but it had continued production.
Two local work safety officials have been sacked over the incident, and another two have been detained.
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