Jealous man sets shop ablaze, killing self, ex in Xinjiang

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-01 20:50

URUMQI -- Two people were killed and seven others injured in the northern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region late Saturday when a love-forsaken man torched a cell phone shop run by his ex-girlfriend.

Local Police confirmed Sunday that the dead were Wang Xiaoming, the perpetrator, and his ex-girlfriend who was only identified by her surname Lei. Both Wang and Lei were in their 20s.

Witnesses said Wang came in to the shop, which is in Beitun Town in Altay, a city in northern Xinjiang, with two buckets of gasoline. He poured out one and set it on fire in the presence of Lei, her present boyfriend and her nephew.

The shop was soon engulfed by thick smoke and fire.

Only Lei's lover and nephew survived as he dragged the child outdoors after the explosion. They did suffer burns and were hospitalized along with three policemen and two bystanders.