China bomb suspect confesses

The suspect, Jin Ruchao

BEIJING, China -- A deaf suspect has confessed to a string of explosions that killed more than 100 people in northern China, the country's official Xinhua News Agency said.

Chinese police on Friday arrested Jin Ruchao, 40, in the beach resort of Beihai in southwestern Guangxi province with the help of the public, according to Xinhua.

Beihai, near the Chinese border with Vietnam, is notorious for smuggling and corrupton.

It is also a port for so-called "snakehead" crime syndicates to ship out illegal immigrants.

Jin was picked up after a nationwide manhunt in which a bounty of $18,000 was put on his head.

His photo was splashed across national newspapers and broadcast on local TV stations throughout the country.

"The case of the huge explosion in Shijiazhuang which shocked the whole nation on March 16 has been solved," Xinhua said.

The news agency added that Jin also admitted to the murder of his girlfriend in the southern province of Yunnan a week before the blasts.

He's being questioned and will stand trial, according to Xinhua.

Local residents blame wider social problems for the explosions

In the early hours of March 16, four explosions went off simultaneously in Shijiazhong with one blast flattening a five-storey dormitory building housing 48 families at Shijiazhuang Number 3 cotton mill.

The official toll is 108, with 38 injured, but unofficial estimates go much higher.

Police say Jin is the main suspect but he could have been helped by accomplices or a criminal gang in Shijiazhuang.

Jin was fired from the Number 3 cotton mill in 1983 for "hooliganism" but kept a room in the factory's dormitory.

Many Shijiazhuang residents doubt that Jin, who communicates with a pen and paper because of his deafness, could have coordinated the four blasts.

They say unemployment, corruption and organized crimes in the city could have contributed to the blasts.

Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei province to the south of Beijing, is full of laid-off workers fuming about the socialist system that had for decades provided them with 'cradle to grave' services.

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

Just days after the Shijiazhuang blasts, China launched a three-month "Strike Hard" campaign to speed up the arrests and prosecution on crimes and other "unstable factors in society".

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Xinhua News Agency

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