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Man gets death for govt office explosion

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-03 06:56

A man who injured 18 people in July by causing an explosion in a government office in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, was sentenced to death on Saturday, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.

The Zhangjiajie intermediate people's court said in its verdict that Tian Kaiyou, 40, was found guilty of causing explosions, injuring people, and jeopardizing public security and property, constituting an "extremely severe" crime. Tian had severely injured three of his victims and caused 263,382 yuan ($38,500) worth of losses by his actions.

He has reportedly appealed against the sentence.

Tian, who was said to have been dissatisfied over the demolition of his illegal building, drove a three-wheeled vehicle carrying lit cooking gas tanks into the government office in the Xixiping area on July 2, the Beijing News reported.

Tian's unhappiness with the administration reportedly started in 2006, when the authorities removed his two-story house that was being illegally constructed on his farmland. He started building another structure, which was subsequently taken down as well.