Morning blast kills 7, injures 17 in Guangxi

An early morning explosion in Xing'an county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, has left seven dead and 17 wounded on Thursday, local police said in an official notice. The blast occurred at 1:40 am on Lingxiang Road in Xing'an. Following the incident, officials from Guilin city and Xing'an county rushed to the scene to coordinate rescue operations alongside police, fire, health and emergency response teams. Rescuers have since completed four rounds of thorough site searches. All 17 injured people have been hospitalized and are currently in stable condition with no life-threatening injuries. Meanwhile, on-site rescue operations remain underway, police said. Preliminary investigations have ruled out a pipeline gas leak as the trigger for the blast. Police are continuing their probe to identify the exact cause of the explosion.

New communication test satellite launched

China on Thursday sent a new communication technology test satellite into space from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in South China's Hainan province. Launched at 3:30 pm aboard a Long March 5 rocket, the satellite has successfully entered its preset orbit. This satellite will be mainly used to carry out multi-band and high-speed communication technology validation tests. The launch marks the 650th mission carried out by the Long March carrier rocket series.

People smuggling suspect extradited

A Chinese fugitive suspected of coordinating the illegal crossing of national borders has been extradited back to China, the National Immigration Administration said on Thursday. The man surnamed Cai, who had long been in hiding abroad, was found by Chinese police to have conspired with people smugglers both in China and overseas between 2023 and 2024. They organized multiple Chinese citizens to take detour routes and illegally cross the border to engage in illicit activities abroad, said the NIA. In March this year, the police of a relevant country apprehended Cai and notified the Chinese side of the matter. Cai was escorted back to China on Monday.

China Daily - Xinhua