Chch couple hurt in Chinese blast

Press, 17 March 1987, Page 1

Chch couple hurt in Chinese blast

A young Christchurch couple were the two New Zealanders injured when a peasant woman detonated a grenade in a failed suicide attempt in northwest China on Friday.

Jonny and Tracy Ogilvie, aged 25 and 27, are expected to spend about 10 days in hospital in Xian. They were among 21 injured in the explosion in a restaurant in the city near which the Buried Army of terracotta soldiers was found.

The couple were heading for Sydney after spending several years living in London. They were now expected to first return to Christchurch, said Mr Ogilvie’s brother-in-law, Mr David Wagner, of Cashmere.

Mr Wagner received a call from Xian on Saturday. “That was somewhat sketchy to the extent that it was an atrocious line,” he said. “They said they had been blown up or whatever.

“They were both in hospital with shrapnel in their legs, and were okay. The authorities were making a big fuss of them because they were very embarrassed that Westerners had been injured in the incident.”

Mr Wagner said that the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, was scheduled to visit Xian today. He understood that members of the New Zealand party would “probably go and see them.”