An explosion meant as part of a bank robbery Monday morning killed two people and injured 17 others in northeast Liaoning Province.

The blast occurred at 8:05 am Monday at a bank at Xiliu Town of the province's Haicheng City and two people died at the site. The injured were immediately sent to the local hospital.

Police caught a suspect on the spot, on whom they found a remote control device for the explosion.

Luo Rongguang, director of the city's public security bureau, said the suspect had confessed that he made the explosion and planned to rob the bank after the blast.

So far, police had no idea whether he had any accomplice, said Luo.

The 20-square-meter bank had 220,000 yuan (US$26,500) of cash, according to the police.

Local government officials rushed to the site to direct rescue work soon after the explosion and further investigation is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2003)