China’s president has ordered a national security campaign after a massive cooking gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in the northwest killed 31 and injured seven others on the eve of a long bank holiday weekend
From
ZEN SOO Associated Press
Jun 21, 2023 10:20pm ET
• 4 min reading
HONG KONG — China’s president on Thursday ordered a national security campaign after a massive cooking gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in the northwest killed 31 and wounded seven others on the eve of a long bank holiday weekend.
The blast rocked the restaurant on a busy street in Yinchuan, capital of the traditionally Muslim Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, around 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, as people gathered ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
According to online news site The Paper, which quoted a member of the search and rescue team, many people were rendered unconscious by the blast and had to be carried out of the store. The victims included the elderly and high school students, sources said.
An hour before the blast, employees noticed the smell of cooking gas and realized a gas tank valve was broken, according to Xinhua. The explosion happened when an employee was replacing the valve.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for urgent medical care for the injured and a safety overhaul after the blast, Xinhua said. He called for efforts to quickly determine the cause of the accident and hold people legally accountable.
Xi also said all regions and related departments should deal with “all kinds of risks and hidden dangers” and launch campaigns to promote workplace safety.
Nine people were arrested by authorities, including the restaurant’s owner, shareholders and employees. Their assets were also frozen, according to Xinhua.
The blast happened at a branch of Fuyang Barbecue, a chain restaurant in Yinchuan known for its grilled skewers and stir-fries, The Paper said. The two-story restaurant could seat 20 people on the ground floor and offered private dining rooms on the second floor, where guests could also sing karaoke.
A video on social media platform Douyin showed rescuers on ladders trying to reach victims on the second floor. People who appeared to have minor injuries waited on the side of the road for help. Other videos showed at least six fire engines at the scene and some bystanders crying.
A staff member at the Emergency Department of Ningxia Medical University General Hospital confirmed that some victims were being treated there, but declined to provide any further information.
The newspaper quoted a woman named Chen, identified only by her last name, as saying she was about 50 meters (160 feet) from the restaurant when she heard the explosion. She described seeing two waiters emerge from the restaurant, one of whom immediately collapsed as thick smoke billowed and a strong smell of cooking gas filled the room.
The central government’s Department of Emergency Management said on social media that search and rescue operations at the restaurant were completed early Thursday morning and investigators were working to determine the cause of the blast.
The Dragon Boat Festival is a holiday dedicated to eating rice dumplings and racing boats propelled by teams of paddlers. While the majority of Yinchuan’s population is Han Chinese, a third are Hui or Chinese Muslims.
Workplace accidents of this type are a regular occurrence in China and are usually attributed to poor government oversight, corruption, cost-cutting measures by employers and a lack of safety training for workers.
An explosion at a Chinese petrochemical plant killed at least nine people and three others died in a helicopter crash during the country’s May Day holiday.
In February, a huge open-pit coal mine collapse in the northern region of Inner Mongolia killed 53 miners, prompting numerous arrests, and in November this year, four people were arrested over a fire at an industrial trading company in central China, killing 38 people.
The central government has pledged tighter security measures since a 2015 explosion at a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 173 people, mostly firefighters and police officers. In this case, several local officials were accused of accepting bribes to ignore security breaches.
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Bangkok-based AP video producer Penny Wang contributed to this report.