YUANPING, Shanxi, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Two suspects confessed to the police Thursday they had illegally stored explosives at a hospital in north China's Shanxi Province, which blasted Monday and claimed at least 31 lives.

    Wang Jinsheng, 41, an administrative officer of the staff hospital affiliated to the Xuangang Coal and Electricity Company in Yuanping city and his 31-year-old chauffeur Wang Guohua, surrendered to the police on Thursday.

    A police statement said Wang Jinsheng admitted storing more than two tons of explosives, which he bought for use in his private coal mine, in a garage of the hospital 10 days earlier of the blast, with the help of Wang Guohua.

    Wang Jinsheng had been hiding in Shuozhou, another city in Shanxi since the explosion on April 10, and police had offered a reward of 100,000 yuan (12,500 U.S. dollars) for information leading to the apprehension of him.

    The two suspects were detained by police for allegedly illegal purchase, transportation and storage of explosives.

    Initial investigations suggested a spontaneous ignition of the explosives had caused the blast. But there left no clues as to where the ignition came from.

    The explosion at about 2:25 a.m. on Monday has totally flattened a two-storey building and six small houses nearby. The garage was on the ground floor of the two-storey building.

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

    The local government has provided accommodation for more than 140 people who were left homeless, and subsidized 50 yuan for each daily, according to local sources.

    The blast caused a stir across the country. Rescuers and medical teams arrived at the spot shortly after the explosion.

    Yang Anhe, director of the provincial public security bureau, and Shanxi Vice Governor Jin Shanzhong also rushed to the site to coordinate the rescue work.

    Rescue teams wound up their work on Wednesday afternoon after recovering 31 bodies and parts of several other bodies. Police are still working on the number of victims by DNA testing.

    Most of the victims were hospital staff and their family members, said Li Jianzhang, an official with the Xuangang company.

    Those who were injured in the blast have been transferred to the Yuanping People's Hospital and Yuanping Railway Hospital for treatment.

    Police have searched the company for dangerous explosives, chemicals, radioactive substances and carried out safety inspections on its fuel oil storage and fire control facilities.

    Shanxi Province has started a thorough check-up of the management of explosives after the fatal blast. Enditem