At least 31 people died when an explosion caused by a gas leak ripped through a restaurant in the northwestern city china of Yinchuanthe state press reported on Thursday.
A liquefied petroleum gas leak (…) caused an explosion during the operation of a barbecue restaurant,” said the state agency Xinhua about the explosion that occurred on Wednesday.
The accident occurred in holiday eve three days of the Dragon Boat Festival, when many in China They go out to socialize with friends.
xinhua He added that seven people “receive rescue care” and one of them is in “critical condition.”
Two people suffered severe burns, two others had minor injuries and two had scratches caused by glass, it said.
Images from the state CCTV network showed more than a dozen firefighters working on the site, where smoke was emanating from a hole in the building’s façade.
Glass splinters and other debris littered the street, where other restaurants and entertainment venues operate.
The explosion occurred at around 8:40 p.m. (1240 GMT) Wednesday at the Fuyang Barbecue Restaurant in a residential area in downtown Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Autonomous Region.
Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded “all efforts to care for the injured and strengthen safety supervision and management in key industries to truly protect people’s lives and property,” CCTV reported on Thursday.
images of the tragedy
He Ministry of Emergency Management It said local fire and rescue services dispatched more than 100 people and 20 vehicles to the blast site.
Local authorities “immediately demanded that search and rescue efforts be organized, that the injured be properly treated and fatalities be kept as low as possible,” the ministry said.
The rescue work was completed at 0400 Thursday (2000 GMT Wednesday), it added.
A video on social networks It showed two shirtless men in tattered pants and dust-covered torsos, dazed on a street lined with broken glass.
Other images showed dozens of people gathered behind a security cordon across the street from the restaurant, some of them visibly distraught.
Explosions and other deadly incidents are relatively common in China, where building codes are sometimes ignored, creating conditions that make it difficult to get out in the event of a fire.
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