Explosion On Bus Kills 16 In China

An explosion on a bus killed at least 16 people and injured 30 others in central China on Saturday, a Chinese news agency reported.

But a Hong Kong-based dissident group put the death toll at 30 and said it believed, based on the damage, the explosion was caused by a bomb.

The China News Service, monitored in Hong Kong, said the explosion occurred when the bus was approaching a bridge in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province.

It said traffic in the area was halted for four hours, and that officials were investigating the cause of the explosion.

The Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China quoted an unidentified source who went to the scene as saying the bus was gutted by fire after the explosion.

The center, which has good sources in China’s dissident community, said two taxis and three other buses were also damaged in the blast.

Chinese government offices were closed Saturday. A switchboard operator at the provincial government office hung up when asked about the blast.

Chinese cities have been hit by several major explosions in the past year, prompting police to step up efforts to prevent the sale and transport of explosives.