Explosion at kindergarten school in China left 8 dead, 65 injured; Suspect among killed [PHOTOS]

An explosion at a kindergarten in China left eight people killed and 54 injured. Police have identified one suspect in the blast in the eastern Jiangsu province in Fengxian County on Thursday. The 22-year-old male suspect is believed to have been killed from the explosion as well.

The blast occurred around 5 p.m. local time at the gate of the kindergarten in Xuzhou just in time for the students’ dismissal for the day. None of the students or teachers had fortunately come out during the explosion, according to the government. However, their parents were waiting for them near the entrance to pick them up.

Local reports state that at least eight people have died from the explosion. Sixty-five people were injured, eight of them are in critical condition. More than 10 senior doctors from Nanjing and Wuxi cities have rushed to the site, Xinhua reports.

Authorities are treating the incident as a criminal case. While witnesses claim that a gas cylinder at a food stall was the cause of the explosion, investigators have just said that a homemade bomb was used.

They have also “targeted” at least one suspect, who is believed to have been killed at the blast together with the other victims. The Associated Press reports that the male suspect, 22, was identified using security camera footage and DNA collected at the scene. The police provided his surname as Xu but no motive.

They said they found materials for homemade bomb at the suspect’s nearby residence. And on the walls of his residence were the Chinese characters for death and disaster. Xu, according to the police, had left school due to his autonomic nervous system disorder.