China names deaf man as suspect behind 4 blasts

Chinese residents look at a wanted poster for the bombing suspect

In this story: Violent protest Alarm over public safety RELATED STORIES

BEIJING, China -- Chinese police have identified a deaf fugitive, possibly with gangster links, as the main suspect behind four explosions that killed 108 people in the city of Shijiazhuang.

But a local government official said he believed the simultaneous blasts that ripped through workers' accommodation blocks early on Friday were the work of angry redundant laborers trying to send a message to Beijing.

Police notices offering a $6,000 (50,000 yuan) reward for Jin Ruchao, 40, over the murder of his girlfriend and other "especially serious crimes" appeared in state newspapers on Sunday.

The police notice had a photograph of Jin -- a gaunt man with a long face and receding hairline -- and said he used a pen and paper to communicate because of his deafness.

Jin was fired from the mill in 1983 for hooliganism but kept a room in the factory's dormitory area, local residents said.

Violent protest

One Shijiazhuang government official said the blasts were more likely to be a violent protest at mass redundancies in the city -- a center of China's troubled textile industry.

One of the explosions completely flattened a five-story dormitory at the Number 3 cotton mill, which housed at least 30 families.

The death toll is now officially at 108, with 38 injured, although unofficial estimates go much higher.

"Can one deaf man cause all four explosions?" said the official. "I am 90 percent sure it was caused by laid-off workers."

"It's not just a show of anger and disillusion, it is to attract the attention of the central government," he said.

China laid off 1.4 million workers from the textile sector between 1998 and 2000 under a program to cut production and boost efficiency.

Alarm over public safety

The dormitory blasts are the recent in a string of incidents that have triggered alarm over public safety and undermined confidence in the government.

It comes on the heels of an explosion at a school that killed at least 42 people, and a disco fire in the city of Luoyang that left 309 people dead.

Premier Zhu Rongji issued a rare public apology by a Chinese leader last week over the school blast in an east China village, which Beijing blamed on a deranged suicide bomber.

President Jiang Zemin has also repeatedly instructed local officials to improve public safety.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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