Briefly

2 killed, 2 hurt in Hebei gas explosion

Two people were confirmed dead, and two others were seriously injured in a gas explosion in Anping county, Hebei province, on Saturday morning, according to local authorities. The accident happened at around 10:13 am in a shop on Hongqi Street. The resulting fire was extinguished at around 11:20 am. A preliminary investigation showed that the gas explosion was caused by a natural gas pipeline rupture caused by renovation. Public security authorities have taken five people related to the incident into custody. Further investigation is underway.

Renovations started on 42,600 communities

China started renovating 42,600 old urban residential communities across the country in the first half of the year, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. This year, renovations of 53,000 old urban residential communities will begin in an effort to make cities more livable, the ministry said. The projects in the first six months covered 80.4 percent of those slated for renovation this year, benefiting 7.42 million households, according to the ministry. More than 95 percent of such communities in Guizhou, Hebei, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and six other provincial-level regions began renovation work during the first six months.

Xinhua