Three suspects arrested in connection with deadly Jiangsu blast

Police in Yancheng, East China's Jiangsu province, have arrested three suspects in connection with the deadly explosion that killed 78 people and wounded hundreds on March 21, according to the local government's official WeChat account.

It said that the public security department filed a case on March 23 and detained the three suspects, who it said share major responsibility for the explosion.

The explosion followed a fire that broke out in a plant owned by Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Company in an industrial park in Yancheng's Xiangshui county. As of 4 pm Tuesday, 187 people were still being treated at local hospitals. Five people remain seriously wounded, with two in critical condition.

As of Tuesday noon, 20,892 houses that were damaged by the explosion have been repaired and about 1,749 metric tons of garbage has been cleaned up.

Local police will thoroughly investigate the suspects, the local government said.