|
The blast happened at about 8 a.m. in the county of Sanhe, state
broadcaster CCTV News said, roughly 80 km (50 miles) from the
centre of Beijing, the capital, where key annual parliament
sessions had just concluded.
Videos on social media platform Weibo showed a large orange
fireball over the site, followed by billows of grey smoke, and
scenes of the destroyed frontage of buildings, mangled cars,
with glass shards in the streets, and some objects still ablaze.
A suspected gas leak triggered the accident in a shop selling
fried chicken in the town of Yanjiao, city emergency officials
said in a statement, drawing rescuers, firefighters, health and
other officials to the scene.
"I was at home when I heard a loud blast, I initially thought it
might be a gunshot," said Zhao Li, a middle-aged woman who lives
about a kilometre from the blast site.
"The loud explosion was accompanied by a crash of glass and
clouds of smoke," said Zhao, adding that police sealed off the
street to the site.
The fire had been brought under control, fire officials said in
an earlier statement, adding that 36 vehicles and 154 people had
been dispatched to the site and were carrying out rescue work.
China's latest deadly gas explosion at an eatery comes after the
government issued detailed guidelines last year on the use of
gas appliances and cookers to avert safety risks.
Social media posters on Weibo said the explosion occurred near a
cultural centre in the town. Construction of a metro line was
taking place nearby, Chinese weekly the Economic Observer posted
on its social media account.
City emergency authorities sent an investigation team, according
to social media posts.
Regional supplier Taida Gas suspended service in several
surrounding areas, as a precaution to prevent secondary
injuries, it said in a statement.
"Our company ... will resume supply after ensuring safety," it
added in the statement, although it said it did not service the
area where the shop is located.
(Reporting by Liz Lee, and Beijing and Shanghai newsrooms;
Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
