Police are anxious to trace the hospital administrator who allegedly kept explosives in a store which may have caused an explosion killing 31 people in Shanxi on Monday.

According to police, large quantities of detonators and fuses have been found at the site of the explosion. .

They said it was possible that explosives were stored in the basement of a two-storey building with a garage on the first floor and 17 accommodation rooms on the second. .

Initial investigations discovered that Wang Jinsheng, an administrative officer at Xuangang Coal and Electricity Company staff hospital, who previously worked in private coalmines, had moved dozens of boxes into the garage 10 days before the blast.

Wang held the keys to the garage and disappeared at the time of the blast. Police have issued a nationwide arrest warrant for him. However, the actual cause of the blast has yet to be officially confirmed and is still under investigation.

The explosion happened at about 2:25 AM on Monday and rescue teams completed their work on Wednesday afternoon after recovering 31 bodies.

Patients at the hospital, many who were injured, were transferred to Yuanping People's Hospital and Yuanping Railway Hospital.

The explosion destroyed the two-storey building and several small houses nearby. It damaged buildings within a one-kilometer radius causing serious damage to a five-storey medical staff building. 

Many of the 200 villagers living nearby were also injured, said a rescue team member.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2006)