TAIYUAN - Local police said Saturday that they had cracked an arson killing 13 people and injuring one in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi Province.

A 48-year-old man surnamed Wu who had an offender history was the alleged arsonist. DNA tests by the police showed he was one of the deceased, according to the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau.

Police said Wu, tipsy, broke into the home of a woman surnamed Ren, one of his neighbors, and killed her with knife and hammer at about 4 pm Friday in a one-story house on Shenglixi Street in the Xinghualing District. Then he dashed into another neighbor's home about 30 meters away and set fire to a gasoline can he brought in.

Neighboring residents told Xinhua they heard an explosion in the house in the afternoon.

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