14 DEAD, 147 HURT IN CHINA HOUSE BLAST

BEIJING: A powerful blast in a prefabricated home in a town in China’s Shaanxi province has left at least 14 people dead and 147 injured, reports said yesterday. The explosion occurred on Monday afternoon inside a residential compound at Xinmin township. An initial investigation failed to identify the cause of the explosion, Xinhua news agency cited local authorities as saying. News portal Sina.com referenced social media postings about sightings of a person carrying explosive material before the blast, but this has not been verified. – dpa