The daughter of a senior official in a Shanxi city in charge of legal affairs was killed in an explosion at home reportedly caused by a gas leak, but rumours online call it a bomb attack. 

The explosion on Monday afternoon left the second-floor flat of a four-storey building charred. It blew out most of the panes and glass from the windows, the Yellow River News reported [1].

According to ChinaNews.com [2], the owner of the flat, surnamed Li, is a high-ranking party official and deputy secretary in charge of legal and political affairs for Xiangfen county. Li was not home at the time, but his 20-year-old daughter was reportedly killed in the blast.

Speculation spread online about a bombing attempt on the secretary, carried out either by disgruntled residents, anti-corruption vigilantes or someone seeking revenge.

Official reports from the Xiangfen government said the explosion was caused by a gas leak but reporters at the scene found “gas pipes around the building unaffected”, according to Xinhua [1].

On Sina Weibo, unconfirmed rumours spread that said another official from the department who lived next door had received a mysterious phone call saying: “I’ve sent you a box and put it at your door, go take a look.”

According to blogger @ahzhangxian [3], he then told the secretary's daughter to fetch the box and soon after, the explosion occured.