Blast at railroad station was terrorism, China says

An explosion that killed 9 people and injured 81 others in Peking's main railroad station was caused by an unidentified terrorist, the government-run Xinhua news agency said. The announcement that the blast was a deliberate act reinforced widespread speculation here that the incident had political implications. The radical "gang of four," led by Mao Tse-tung's widow, Jiang Qing, is to go on trial soon, and the timing of the incident suggested the possibility of a connection with the politically volatile trial. The government is trying to play down such speculation.