At least 31 people have died and seven others injured after a cooking gas exploded at a barbecue restaurant in northwest China.
According to the official news reports, the blast tore through the restaurant at around 8:40 p.m. (12:40 GMT) on Wednesday on a busy street in a residential area of Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, as people gathered to celebrate the three-day holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival.
“A leak of liquefied petroleum gas … caused an explosion during the operation of a barbecue restaurant”, reports say.
According to the report, seven more people were being treated, with one being in a “critical condition.”
Two more people had suffered from severe burns, two had less serious wounds, and two had scratches from flying glass.
More than a dozen firefighters were seen working at the scene in CCTV footage from the state broadcaster, as smoke billowed from a gaping hole in the restaurant’s facade.
One woman was quoted by an online news source as saying she had been about 50 meters (164 feet) from the restaurant when she heard the explosion.
She told the publication that she later witnessed two waiters stumbling out of the restaurant, with one of them immediately collapsing.
She reported that a strong gaseous cooking smell was present.
According to CCTV, nine people were detained by police after the explosion, including the restaurant’s “owner, shareholders, and staff,” and “their assets have been frozen.”.
By 4 a.m. on Thursday (2:00 a.m. GMT on Wednesday), state media reported that the rescue operation was complete.
Despite years of efforts to increase safety, gas and chemical explosion accidents are still common in China.
Source-Aljazeera
