Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 15, 2003
Car Explosion Kills 1, Injures 3 in China's Guangzhou
A masked man drove the vehicle into the lobby of a hotel and fired a self-made gun at two oil barrels placed in the vehicle, causing a blast, which killed one person and injuring three others. The masked man is still at large.
One person was confirmed dead and three others injured Wednesday morning in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong Province, after they tried to escape a fire set by an armed man, police said Thursday.
Eyewitnesses said that at about 3 a.m. Wednesday, the man drove a minivan with two barrels of flammable liquid into the Yidong Hotel in Baiyun District and fired several shots with his homemade gun at the barrels, which immediately exploded and started a fire.
Eyewitness said the suspect then fled to the direction of Huadu District, one of Guangzhou's districts in the north.
Panic ensued as the electricity went off inside the hotel and stairways became blocked. Many people escaped out windows by tying bedsheets and curtains together, police said.
One man died when he jumped from the third floor. Police are still investigating the identity of the dead victim and the motive of the case.
Two police officers examine a damaged vehicle in front of a hotel in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province August 13, 2003.