A Tibetan Buddhist temple in an area of China wracked by anti-Chinese unrest earlier this year collapsed, killing two monks, after a powder used in religious rituals exploded, state media said Tuesday.
Four other monks were hurt in the explosion and collapse of the Gonchen monastery on July 12 in southwestern China's Sichuan province, Xinhua news agency said.
The accident at the monastery, located in the Tibetan-populated Garze prefecture of Sichuan, occurred when an electrical short circuit ignited a black powder stored there, it said.
The report, which quoted Wang Jian, vice director of the prefecture's police force, did not identify the powder.
It also did not say why the incident was not reported sooner.
The Garze region saw violent clashes between Tibetans and police forces after anti-Chinese riots in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on March 14 spilled across the Tibetan plateau and into neighbouring provinces such as Sichuan.
The report said the temple had broken safety rules in storing 716 kilogrammes (1,578 pounds) of the powder.
The two monks were buried on July 16 and the remaining powder was transferred to government control, Xinhua said.
