At least 31 people were killed by a gas explosion that swept through a barbecue restaurant in northwestern China, authorities said Thursday, hours after the explosion reduced the restaurant to a charred ruin.
Wednesday at 8:40 p.m., the two-story restaurant in Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia region, exploded as patrons were consuming lamb kebabs and other dishes cooked on gas burners.
China Barbecue Restaurant Explosion
Firefighters raced to the scene, where fractured glass and debris covered the street and thick smoke billowed into the sky. Within an hour, the fire was extinguished.
The number of death toll was not revealed to the public until the following morning, when authorities announced the death toll and that seven others were hospitalized with injuries, one of whom was in critical condition.
The Chinese Communist Party has become increasingly adept at concealing information about accidents and disasters until they have complete control of the situation, NY Post reported.
According to a brief initial dispatch by Xinhua, the official news agency, one person was slain and twenty were injured. There was no mention of the prospect of more fatalities. Officials in Ningxia pledged to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the explosion and proclaimed a campaign to improve safety.
Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a statement of condolence, as he typically does following significant catastrophes. Xi noted that the detonation occurred the night before the traditional Chinese festival of Duanwujie, or the Dragon Boat Festival.
The explosion will likely lead to a closer examination of China's thriving barbecue restaurant industry. According to official statistics, China's safety record at mines and work sites has been improving, and local governments frequently order inspections of restaurants and their gas supplies. But serious accidents persist.
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Restaurant Employee Claims Seeing Gas Leak
Per Mirror, a woman identified only by her surname, Chen, said that she was approximately 50 meters away when she heard the detonation.
Chen added that she saw two servers emerge from the restaurant following the explosion, with one of them collapsing immediately as dense smoke billowed from the structure and a strong odor of cooking gas permeated the air.
The Ministry of Emergency Management of the Central Government issued a statement on Thursday morning indicating that rescue efforts had been completed and that an investigation into the cause of the detonation was already ongoing.
CCTV aired footage of over a dozen firefighters battling the blaze as smoke rises from a gaping hole in the restaurant's façade. The street was covered in glass shards and other debris.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, more than 100 personnel and 20 vehicles were dispatched to the scene by fire and rescue services. The rescue operation lasted until Thursday at 4:00 a.m. local time.
According to the fire department's preliminary investigation, a restaurant employee detected a gas leak approximately one hour before the explosion.
Local media reported that he then discovered a damaged valve on a liquefied gas tank and was replacing it when the explosion occurred. BBC reports that barbecue establishments are emblematic of China's street vendor economy and popular in the northwestern regions of the country.
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