Beijing — A series of mysterious blasts ripped through buildings in the North China city of Shijiazhuang early Friday, killing at least 18 people, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.
Xinhua said one of the blasts occurred near a workers' dormitory attached to the state-owned No. 3 Cotton Factory. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, an independent watchdog/ news agency in Hong Kong, said there were four separate explosions.
It said 170 people lived in the dormitory next to the factory and that 12 hours after the blast only 28 people had been rescued.
There was no immediate explanation for the blasts. That they occurred around the same time in separate buildings, though, suggested they could have been deliberate.
Explosions are fairly common in China, where explosives are easy to come by at the nation's many construction sites and in the countryside.
Everyone from laid-off workers to jilted husbands to Muslim separatists reportedly has used explosives to take out anger and frustration or make a political point.
Shijiazhuang, a city of more than 1 million, lies about 150 miles southwest of Beijing and serves as the capital of Hebei Province.
Like many Chinese cities, it has been hard hit by layoffs at state-run factories as the government tries to reform the nation's old command economy.
The painful economic measures have sparked demonstrations around the country in recent years.
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