Monks died in 'house collapse'

Two monks¹ were killed and four others injured when a house in the northern section of the Gengqing Temple in Dege county collapsed³ on July 12.

The county lies in the Tibetan autonomous⁴ prefecture, Sichuan province. The house collapsed while the six monks were having lunch in a cultural relics⁵ storeroom on the first floor.

Rescuers rushed to the scene and pulled the monks out of the rubble⁶. Two were fatally injured.

The others are in a hospital, and are out of danger, Wang Jian, deputy chief of the Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture police bureau, said.

The temple houses 210 monks and has many cultural relics, Wang said.

The collapse² was caused by an explosion. An electrical short-circuit ignited some "black powder" stored in the house, Wang said.

He said the temple had violated safety rules in storing the powder used in Buddhist⁷ rituals.

The temple has since handed over 716 kg of the powder and 29 old shotguns to the police.

Zhao Ying, executive deputy chief of the Sichuan provincial⁸ government’s information office, refuted a report carried by London-based The Times on Friday that the two monks were shot dead by police.

Investigations⁹ showed there was no clash between the monks and police on July 12 in temples throughout Ganzi, Zhao said.

The Times report was based on information given by three anonymous¹⁰ Tibetans, the Xinhua News Agency said.