IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Guangdong

Arsonist sentenced for deadly blaze

The man who set the fire that tore through a karaoke lounge and killed 18 people in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, in April was sentenced to death by a court on Tuesday. Qingyuan Intermediate People's Court found that Liu Chunlu parked his motorbike at the entrance of the lounge and deliberately caused a leak in its fuel tank around 12:30 am on April 23. He then set fire to gasoline with a lighter and fled the scene. Liu told people that he would set fire to the karaoke lounge after his advances were rejected by a waitress at the venue. He also got angry because someone kept interrupting his business conversations, the court said.