Beijing: One person was killed and 22 others injured following a gas explosion at a Yanjiao restaurant in north China’s Hebei Province on Wednesday, damaging the building and several vehicles, official media reported. The explosion is suspected to have been caused by a gas leak at a fried chicken shop in Yanjiao township, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Yanjiao township is located on the outskirts of Beijing.
State media Global Times reported that the explosion occurred at a restaurant on the ground floor of an old residential complex in Hebei province.
Videos from the scene circulating online show a huge plume of blue smoke, several damaged sedans, and debris scattered all over the ground. Local authorities have sent an investigation team to the scene and are currently conducting rescue work, reports said.
Police cordoned off streets 1 kilometre out from the explosion, Associated Press reported, and were directing people away. Fire engines were still arriving at the scene as of 11 am, and a truck could be seen hauling away a burnt-out car with its windows gone.
“An explosion occurred at the ground floor restaurant in an old residential area,” state broadcaster CCTV reported, adding it was a “suspected gas explosion”.
The blast took place around 7:55am (local time), CCTV said, in a residential area in the village of Xiaozhanggezhuang, Yanjiao, in Sanhe City, less than 50 kilometres east of the capital Beijing.
A video on social media showed what appeared to be a building that had completely collapsed and several destroyed cars.
