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Blast at China kindergarten: 7 dead, many injured

Blast at China kindergarten: 7 dead, many injured

An explosion has struck the entrance to a kindergarten in eastern China, reportedly killing seven people and injuring more than 50.

State media is reporting up to 40 people have been taken to hospital, and videos purportedly from the scene and posted on social media show children and adults lying on the ground, some bleeding.

Police officials say they are investigating and have no word yet on injuries or deaths.

Police said the blast struck at 4.50 pm local time on Thursday at the Chuangxin Kindergarten in the city of Fengxian in Jiangsu province.

A mobile phone camera video posted on the website of the official People's Daily newspaper showed more than a dozen people lying motionless in front of the kindergarten's steel sliding gate, with clothing, shoes and other items strewn on the ground beside pools of blood.

It showed ambulances arriving and medics wheeling people into an emergency room.

It wasn't clear whether the blast was an accident or had been deliberately set.

The newspaper Xiandaikuaibao on its website cited an unidentified witness as saying the explosive appeared to have been a bottle of cooking gas.

Calls to the kindergarten were not answered.