Briefly

HUBEI

Acting governor of the province appointed

Wang Zhonglin, who became the top official of Wuhan when the Hubei provincial capital was plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic early last year, was appointed vice-governor and acting governor of the province on Friday. The appointment was adopted at a session of the Standing Committee of the Hubei People's Congress, the provincial legislature, on Friday afternoon, according to a Xinhua News Agency report. Also at the session, the committee approved Wang Xiaodong's application to resign from his post as Hubei governor. A native of Shandong province, Wang Zhonglin was appointed the top official of Wuhan on Feb 13. Before that, he served as Party chief of Jinan, capital of Shandong. He became the top official of Jinan in 2018.

GUANGXI

House explosion kills 1, injures 3

One person died and three were injured on Thursday afternoon when a house exploded in Napo town in the Tianyang district of Baise, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, local authorities reported. The explosion was attributed to thermal expansion materials stored at a rented house. The materials were purchased on Saturday by a man surnamed Deng, a tenant of the house, and were to be used in road repair work, the authorities said. At 6 pm on Thursday, the materials exploded, resulting in four casualties at a neighboring automobile repair shop. All the injured people have received medical treatment and vital signs are stable, the authorities said. The blast also damaged several vehicles and houses.