June 16 (UPI) -- An explosion near a kindergarten in China's eastern Jiangsu province that killed eight people was caused by a homemade bomb, police said Friday.
Authorities said a 22-year-old man planted the device outside of the Chuangxin Kindergarten on Thursday, killing himself in addition to the eight victims and injuring 65. No students or teachers were among the dead or injured, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
"The explosion was caused by a homemade explosive device," Pei Jun, the deputy head of Jiangsu public security office. He identified the suspect only as Xu.
The school is located in the prefecture-level city of Xuzhou.
Witnesses initially said the blast appeared to have been caused by an exploding bottle of cooking gas.
Pei said Xu dropped out of school, and worked and lived near the kindergarten.
"Materials for making an explosive device were found at his room, and words such as 'die' were written on the wall," Pei said. "At this point we believe the case is solved."
