North China school blast kills 1, injures 6

One junior high school student was killed and six other people injured after a boiler exploded at a school in north China's Shanxi province, local authorities said Thursday. A steam boiler, which authorities said went into operation only a few days ago, exploded at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday at a junior high school in Linyi county, killing a 14-year-old girl, said an official with the county's Communist Party committee. Five other students and a worker who was operating the boiler sustained injuries but are currently in stable conditions. The blast happened when the students came to get drinking water after a PE lesson on the playground at the Chongxiangxi Junior High School. The building that housed the boiler was razed to the ground. An initial investigation found that the container was dry at the time of the accident, which is believed to have caused the explosion. Authorities blamed the tragedy on possible human error as the worker, who was asked to temporarily fill in for a licensed boiler worker, was untrained. Further investigation is under way.