China | At least seven dead in explosion probably caused by gas

(Sanhe) A large explosion in a restaurant in China, probably caused by gas, killed at least seven people and caused significant damage less than 50 kilometers from Beijing, according to state media.

The blast occurred shortly before 8 a.m. (8 p.m. Eastern Time) in Sanhe, a city located in a large suburb from where many residents commute every day to work in Beijing.

The explosion took place “in an old residential area”, state television CCTV reported, specifying that the presumed cause of the disaster was a gas leak in a fried chicken restaurant.

A toll revised upwards in the evening shows at least seven dead and 27 injured, according to the official Chine Nouvelle agency. The previous toll was two dead and 26 injured.

Images on Chinese social media showed a loud explosion followed by thick smoke and flames above a busy road during rush hour.

In other images, we see a collapsed building and several destroyed cars.

“I heard a huge explosion (…) It scared me very much,” said a seller from a nearby market, who requested anonymity.

Journalists mistreated

Another seller said he heard “a huge explosion” in this residential area made up of six or seven-story buildings.

A police cordon prevented journalists from approaching the site of the explosion. Some were sometimes mistreated.

The AFP was refused access to Jingdong Zhongmei Hospital where victims were transported.

Responding to the incidents, the China Journalists Association issued a statement on Wednesday titled “Appropriate interviews are a journalist’s right” – a rare public show of support.

The explosion was so powerful that it blew away the facades of stores located on the other side of a wide street, according to a video shared on the social network Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

The author of the video told AFP that the explosion occurred 200 meters from his home.

A shopkeeper in a nearby store told local media that she heard a loud “bang”. She saw a building on fire that was “virtually destroyed.”

Rescue teams were immediately deployed with 36 emergency vehicles and 154 people mobilized, according to firefighters. A man identifying himself as head of security at the facility said staff were “busy treating patients” and that official permission was needed to speak to victims.

Security in question

Fires or other accidents occur regularly in China, often due to insufficient safety standards.

This prompted Chinese President Xi Jinping to issue “important instructions requiring that the number of accidents be resolutely limited” at the start of the year.

In February, a fire in a residential building left at least 15 dead and 44 injured in Nanjing, in eastern China, the fire apparently having started where electric two-wheelers were located.

The previous month, 39 people were killed in a store fire in the central province of Jiangxi.

Xi Jinping then called for lessons to be learned from the disaster to avoid new tragedies.

Five days earlier, 13 schoolchildren lost their lives in a fire in a boarding school dormitory.

Last June, an explosion at a restaurant in northwest China killed 31 people and prompted authorities to embark on a nationwide campaign to promote workplace safety.