Man arrested after car bomb kills 7, including ex-wife and daughter

A 55-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly setting off a car bomb that left seven dead and 18 injured 18 in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, last Wednesday. Among the dead was his ex-wife, whose family he was targeting, according to police.

The man's 12-year-old daughter also died in the explosion, and two of his other children were injured.

The suspect, Chen Desheng, was severely injured and taken to hospital, where police arrested him after he confessed to the attack.

Xinhua said Chen bitterly resented the part played by his wife and her family in the couple's failed marriage. So he assembled what police said was the equivalent of 20kg of TNT and detonated it outside her home in Litianshang village, Potou district, at 1.45pm on Wednesday.

Five people were killed at the scene and two died in hospital on Thursday. Those killed were aged four to 72, according to The Southern Metropolis Daily. It was unclear whether Chen was counted among the 18 people, aged from two to 70, who were injured. Six of the victims remained in serious condition in hospital.

"It felt like the whole village was shaking," a villager was quoted by the newspaper as saying. The villager, who declined to be named, said one of his house windows broke, even though he lived more than 100 metres from the victim's family.