Man blew up tea house after killing wife in domestic row
Police find woman's body at couple's village home; husband among 14 killed
An explosion at a Chongqing tea house that left 14 people dead was the work of an enraged husband who had just killed his wife in a domestic dispute.
Yuan Daizhong , was one of 11 people who died at the scene of the blast in Xima village on Thursday. Twenty-nine people were injured.
The incident prompted a mainland social scientist to warn yesterday that a loss of respect for other people had caused a decline in moral standards.
Chongqing Public Security Bureau officials said Yuan set off the bomb after killing his wife at their home in Yueyang village, Tongliang county.
Police officers found the body of his wife, surnamed Tan, at the couple's home along with explosives and a number of detonators, a bureau spokesman, Liu Kun , was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
He gave no details about the nature of the domestic dispute.
Yuan had been detained in 2000 for visiting prostitutes and was punished in 2001 for violating regulations about the handling of explosives, Xinhua reported.
Hu Xingdou , a social scientist at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said a lack of social care and assistance, which made it increasingly difficult for people to cope with their personal problems, could be behind the case and other similar incidents.
'Many people would think of retaliating against the whole of society when they come across problems,' Professor Hu said. 'It is a clear sign that morality is on the decline [in a society where] moral boundaries and respect for the lives of other people are missing.'
An explosion on a bus in Changsha , Hunan province , injured 54 people last month. A 54-year-old man with problems at home was suspected of causing the blast.
The Chongqing tea house was on the ground floor of the building; residents lived on the first floor. The blast destroyed the tea house interior, blew out an iron security grille and shattered windows.
Witnesses said there were at least eight tables of customers inside before the blast, China News Service reported.
'The explosion was so loud that my ears are still ringing. It's so uncomfortable,' said Xiao Shurong , who owns a butcher's shop next door.
Staff from Tongliang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital said 18 people injured in the blast were still recovering from concussion, fractures and other injuries.
