[] [BTBBT Daily - 12/2]Police probe explosion at bank which kills woman and girl

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AT least two people were killed, one a schoolgirl, and another 15 injured yesterday in an explosion outside a bank near a middle school in central China's Wuhan City in Hubei Province.

The powerful blast swept across the gate of a China Construction Bank branch at about 5:30pm on Xiongchu Road in Wuhan and left a big hole in the street, the city's police said.

The impact left a crater about a meter in diameter and 50 centimeters deep.

The injured include several bank employees and security guards, who suffered slight injuries, Xinhua news agency quoted sources with CCB's Hubei headquarters as saying.

Glass shards and other debris were scattered on the sidewalk and main road in front of the bank. Facilities inside both the bank and an adjacent drugstore were also damaged, employees said.

The blast damaged vehicles parked near the bank.

A security van used to collect cash from the bank was parked outside, covered in dust. The bank did not say if any cash was missing from the security van.

Wuhan police said their preliminary investigation showed that the explosion was caused by unknown objects piled up on the sidewalk in front of the bank's gate, but they were still trying to find out who piled up the objects and the motive for the blast.

A 20-year-old woman died at the scene, while a 13-year-old schoolgirl was killed when she was walking out of the middle school near the bank after class, according to a Wuhan-based newspaper.

Fifteen people who were injured during the blast have been sent to a nearby hospital, according to Hubei's news portal (www.cnhubei.com).

Their conditions were not known.

Witnesses to the blast said they saw the security van arriving at the bank as the blast occurred. According to Wuhan-based Changjiang Daily, witnesses said they had seen three bags which looked like bags of cement, lying on the sidewalk.

"I was walking out of the school to the bank nearby when suddenly I heard the powerful explosion. I couldn't see anything at that moment as I was blown over by the blast," a schoolgirl told Wuhan media.

"The whole sky fell into darkness with black smoke rising everywhere," said a 40-year-old female pedestrian. "I don't know what happened but everyone was running, screaming."

Another witness said he was in a cab when the incident took place and he saw the back of a girl's head "blown up" by the blast.

He said he saw the girl lying on the ground before an ambulance arrived to take her away.

According to People's Daily's website, Tian Jingchao, an official with Wuhan Fire Bureau, said robbers had placed explosive charges at the entrance of the bank. But that had not been confirmed by Wuhan authorities last night.