Explosives stored at a coal mine manager's house exploded in northern China, killing him and at least 10 other people, including two students and a teacher at a nearby grade school, news reports and police said Thursday.
The mine manager, Lu Maolin, was killed, along with several family members in Wednesday's blast in Kecheng, a town in Shanxi province, according to an officer reached by phone at the county police station who would give only his surname, Li. He said several people were killed when a nearby clinic collapsed.
"We are investigating the cause of the explosion," Li said.
He denied a report by the newspaper <i>Shanxi Commercial News</i> that a school near Lu's house had collapsed, killing 20 students. He said that building was still standing. The <i>Xinhua</i> News Agency put the death toll at 11 and said it included two students and a teacher at the school.
