One killed in high-rise blast in northeast China: Official

BEIJING: At least one person was killed in an explosion in a high-rise building in northeast China's Jilin province on Friday, local officials said.

The blast happened about 3.20pm (0720 GMT) on the 30th floor of the Wanda Plaza Apartment Building in Changchun, city authorities said in a statement posted on social media, adding that the incident was under investigation.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing over 20 explosions and people had been evacuated from buildings surrounding the Wanda Plaza Apartment, the state-run Beijing Youth Daily newspaper reported.

Social media footage showed a busy road shrouded in smoke as devices exploded on the ground while people fled. Another video showed a blast on the upper floors of a high-rise building.

AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

This incident comes just over a week before the Lunar New Year holiday, which the Chinese usually welcome with firecrackers and fireworks, sometimes resulting in accidents.

Last February, a fireworks explosion killed four and injured five in southwestern Yunan province.

In January 2006, 36 people were killed as they celebrated the Lunar New Year at a temple festival in central China's Henan province when fireworks exploded in an illegal factory storeroom nearby.

But bomb explosions have also occurred in China in recent years.

In June 2017, a bomb exploded outside a kindergarten in east Jiangsu province, killing eight people and injuring dozens. The explosion was blamed on a 22-year-old introvert with health problems who died in the blast.

Ethnic Uighurs have been tied to mass stabbings and bombings that left dozens dead in recent years across the country.