Under control: Firefighters working the scene of the explosion in Sanhe city where rescuers were responding to a suspected gas leak explosion in a building. — AP
A large suspected gas explosion at a building in northern China has left at least seven people dead and dozens more injured, state media reported.
The blast occurred just before 8am on Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV said, in a residential area in Sanhe, Hebei province, less than 50km east of the centre of Beijing.
Local authorities reported early yesterday that the death toll had climbed from two to seven, with 27 others injured, state outlet Xinhua reported. Sanhe county government officials said they had started an investigation into the cause of the tragedy yesterday.Online footage circulated by state media showed a huge explosion that sent plumes of smoke and fire across a busy road.
On Wednesday afternoon, CCTV reported that the fire had been extinguished. The explosion was suspected to have been caused by a gas leak at a fried chicken shop, state media reported.
Two large buildings were completely destroyed in the blast, footage shared by the broadcaster showed, with rescue teams seen hauling away a car hit by the explosion. Rescue workers can also be seen carrying a large gas canister away.
Journalists were prevented from reaching the blast site by local officials, who physically manhandled reporters attempting to approach the area at times.Footage circulating on social media showed a team from CCTV being prevented from filming a live broadcast near the location of the explosion, with officials heard saying the scene remained dangerous.
Residents told AFP journalists they had heard a loud explosion before rushing outside to see a plume of smoke rising into the morning air.
“I heard a great big bang... which scared me stiff,” a seller at a local market told AFP.
“Outside, I saw clouds of black smoke,” said another seller.
“The noise was too loud,” a vendor surnamed Wang told AFP, adding that she had heard a “second explosion”.
A local man said he did not see the explosion, but when he reached the scene, there was still thick smoke.
Near the scene of the blast, an AFP team observed police waving oncoming traffic away from an entrance to the neighbourhood where the explosion occurred.
From a police cordon of the blast zone, journalists could see a tower of grey smoke a few hundred metres (yards) away. — AFP
