POLICE have arrested 27 people in connection with an explosion that leveled a karaoke bar last month killing 25 guests and passers-by, Xinhua reported yesterday.

The July 4 blast happened when mining explosives including dynamite stored in the vault of the two-story club in Benxi in the northeastern province of Liaoning “self-ignited,” police said.

The victims included teenagers enjoying a birthday party in the karaoke bar, men in the bath house and pedestrians and drivers passing by. More than 30 people were injured and 462 nearby homes in Tianshifu Township damaged.

The 27 suspects received formal arrest warrants on charges of “illegally making, dealing, shipping and storing the explosives,” which Chinese media said could have weighed about a ton judging from the damage.

Club owner Qu Yijie, who was killed in the blast, had run several of the 300-400 licensed or unlicensed coal mines in Tianshifu, according to previous Chinese reports.

The explosion was the latest instance of lax safety in storing explosives in densely populated mining areas responsible for previous disasters.(SD-Agencies)