July 15, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1424

BEIJING, July 14: Five people were killed and nine injured on Monday when an explosion, which police believe could have been caused by a bomb, ripped through a food market in northern China’s Xian city, state media reported.

Based on preliminary investigations, police believe a bomb caused the blast at the crowded Tianshi food market shortly before noon, the China News Service said.

A journalist with the state-run Xinhua news agency who arrived at the scene 50 minutes after the explosion reported glass fragments scattered on the ground, as police cordoned off an area within 500 meters of the site.

Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, has been hit by several explosions in recent months.

Last month a home-made device went off at a Xian outlet of US fastfood chain McDonald’s, without causing injuries.

The blast came 18 months after two people were killed and 27 others injured when a bomb exploded at another McDonald’s restaurant in the city.—AFP