A man in north China's Shanxi Province has been sentenced to reprieved death penalty for illegally storing dynamite in a hospital, which caused an explosion that killed 35 people and injured dozens of others last year.

The man, Wang Jinsheng, a private mine operator and administrator of the hospital where the blast occurred, was given death sentence with a two-year reprieve on Friday by the Intermediate People's Court of Xinzhou City, which convicted him of illegally trading, transporting and storing 11,000 kilograms of dynamite and 27,000 detonators.

The probation was given for his surrender to police after the blast, according to the court.

Six others, including Wang's colleague Liu Yueqing, his driver Wang Guohua and his colliery storeman Jia Sanwa, got jails ranging from two to 12 years.

Wang placed 3,700 kilograms of dynamite and 10,000 detonators in a garage of the Staff Hospital affiliated with the Xuangang Coal and Electricity Company in Yuanping City on March 28 last year. He had bought the explosives for his private colliery.

The stored dynamite exploded on April 10, which totally flattened a two-storey building and six small houses nearby. Investigations indicated a spontaneous ignition of the explosives led to the fatal blast.

A five-storey hospital staff residential building was seriously damaged, and buildings within one kilometer from the blast site were damaged to varying degrees.

Source: Xinhua