Bomb goes off at Carrefour's parking lot in eastern China
( 2001-12-24 12:10 ) (9 )

An explosion ripped through the parking lot of a Carrefour retail outlet in China's eastern city of Qingdao, Sunday evening, but no injuries or fatalities were reported, store officials said.

The blast occurred at about 6:30 pm, sending some 1,000 shoppers scurrying for the exits, a store manager named Liu told reporters by telephone on Monday.

"We are not sure what kind of explosion it was, but police are investigating the possibility that there was a man-made bomb," Liu said.

The store opened as usual on Monday, he said.

Three fire trucks were sent to the store after the blast. It took 30 minutes for shoppers to calm down and for order to be restored, Liu said.

The French retailing giant Carrefour has expanded rapidly in China since 1995 and has 27 stores nationwide.