Gas blast in China kills at least 12, rescue procedure ongoing: Officials
13 June, 2021
At least 12 people were killed and practically 140 others injured whenever a gas line explosion ripped through a residential compound in central China's Hubei province on Sunday (Jun 13), local officials said.
Rescue efforts were continuing, according to a statement from the disaster management bureau in the town of Shiyan, though it was unclear how many people may be trapped beneath the debris.
The explosion occurred at about 6.30am and a study was under way to look for the reason behind the blast, the statement said.
Responders sent 138 people to hospital, which 37 were critically injured, according to a statement on the city's official website.
Videos shot by witnesses and verified by Beijing News show several buildings reduced to rubble and rescue employees carrying shocked survivors on stretchers.
The blast ripped through among the city's vegetable markets that was filled with shoppers and local residents eating breakfast, an eyewitness told state-run Global Times.
"I heard a loud bang and immediately ducked beneath the table, thinking it had been an earthquake," a guy who owns a little restaurant near to the explosion site told the newspaper.
State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of buildings with charred walls and shattered windows. Rescuers have emerged raking through the debris with shovels and gloved hands.
People can be seen walking in a rubble-strewn street between damaged buildings.
Images also show rescuers climbing over broken concrete slabs to reach those trapped inside.
Hospitals in Shiyan are asking residents to donate blood, as the injured remain under emergency treatment, CCTV said.
The Ministry of Emergency Management in addition has sent a team to assist with the rescue operation.
Industrial accidents are normal in China because of weak safety standards and corruption among officials tasked with enforcing them.
The blast came a day after eight persons were killed and three others injured when toxic methyl formate leaked from a chemical handling facility in the southwestern city of Guiyang.
Among the worst accidents was an enormous 2015 explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin that killed 173 people, the majority of them firefighters and cops. The blast was blamed on illegal construction and unsafe storage of volatile materials.
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