Photo taken on Sept. 30, 2015 shows the accident site after explosions took place in Liucheng County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Three people have been confirmed dead and 13 others were injured in the blasts occurred at the seat of Liucheng county and the surrounding areas, with the first one heard at about 15:50. (Xinhua)
Police have arrested a suspect in the package bombs explosion in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which killed seven and injured at least 51 on Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua reported.
The 33-year-old, surnamed Wei, is from Dapu township in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
Initial investigations suggest the explosions were caused by 17 package bombs, with blasts reported in more than a dozen locations, including government offices.
The blasts apparently were triggered by devices placed inside express delivery packages, Xinhua said of the explosions, ,which occurred on the eve of China's National Day holiday.
The Ministry of Public Security sent criminal investigators to the scene and said that it was treating the series of explosions as a criminal act, and not terrorism, according to Xinhua.
Five victims died at the scene, and another two were still missing, according to Xinhua.
The explosions occurred in at least 13 locations in rural Liucheng, including a business trade mall, a prison, a government building in Dapu township, a supermarket, a bus station and a hospital, according to the local newspaper Nanguo Morning News and sources from the Liucheng county public security bureau.
Local government officials were quoted as saying that the series of explosions occurred between 3:15 pm and 5:30 pm.
State broadcaster CCTV quoted a local police chief as saying that the blasts were caused by several different explosive devices.
Pictures online showed a half-collapsed building. Witnesses also saw damaged vehicles on the road, Xinhua said.
The injured, some of them in critical condition, were being treated at Liucheng People's Hospital.
The local government launched emergency measures and officials and rescue teams rushed to the affected areas.
The local administration of work safety issued a warning to the public to avoid opening such parcels that they might have received recently.
While the local government said the initial investigation indicates this is a criminal case, Dai Peng, director of the Criminal Investigation College at the People's Public Security University of China, said it might be too early to make such a conclusion.
The blasts might have exposed "loopholes of management of the express delivery industry", said Dai, who also suggested that the blasts might point to the need for real-name registration of both package senders and receivers.
