BEIJING (AFP) – A suspected gas explosion rocked a town in northern China’s Hebei province on Wednesday, causing major damage to several buildings, according to state media and videos posted on social media.
“An explosion occurred at the ground floor restaurant in an old residential area,” state broadcaster CCTV reported, adding that the injured had been taken to hospital.
The blast took place around 7:55 am (2355 GMT), CCTV said, in a residential area in the village of Xiaozhanggezhuang, Sanhe City, less than 50 kilometers east of the capital Beijing.
“The current situation of casualties is unknown,” CCTV added.
Footage online circulated by state media showed a huge explosion that sent plumes of smoke and fire across a busy road during morning rush hour.
Another video on social media showed what appeared to be a building that had completely collapsed and several destroyed cars.
Rescue workers rushed to the scene, state media said, while the local Langfang fire department said 36 emergency vehicles and 154 personnel had been dispatched to the scene.
A merchant working at a nearby store told state-run Jimu News she had been in her shop when she heard a “bang”.
She ran out of her store and saw a building on fire, she added, and “the whole building was virtually destroyed”.
Explosions and other deadly accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards and poor enforcement.
The country has seen a spate of deadly accidents in recent months, often caused by official negligence — prompting calls from President Xi Jinping for “deep reflection” and greater efforts to “curb the frequent occurrence of safety accidents”.
In January this year, dozens died after a fire broke out at a store in the central city of Xinyu, with state news agency Xinhua reporting the blaze had been caused by the “illegal” use of fire by workers in the store’s basement.
That fire came just days after a late-evening blaze at a school in central China’s Henan province killed 13 schoolchildren as they slept in a dormitory.
And in November last year, 26 people were killed and dozens sent to hospital after a fire at a coal company office in northern China’s Shanxi province.
Last June, an explosion at a barbecue restaurant in the northwest of the country left 31 dead and prompted official pledges of a nationwide campaign to promote workplace safety.
