9 held after China restaurant gas tank blast kills 31 on eve of Dragon Boat Festival
- Those detained over the explosion in Ningxia’s regional capital Yinchuan include the restaurant’s boss, shareholders and staff
- City’s mayor announces month-long safety checks and says ‘The cost is extremely heavy and the lesson is extremely painful’
Another seven were injured in the blast in the regional capital Yinchuan, which is believed to have been caused when a tank of liquefied petroleum gas exploded during the restaurant’s peak dining hours at around 8.40pm.
State news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday that those arrested included the owner of the Fuyang restaurant, its shareholders and staff. The business has also had its assets frozen.
Local firefighters worked until 4am on Thursday morning to recover the dead and injured from the scene.
A news video shown by state broadcaster CCTV showed broken glass pouring from the building along with billowing smoke, while ambulances waited in the street as the firefighters raced to rescue the victims.
The National Health Commission said that all of the injured are being treated at the Ningxia Medical University General Hospital, with none in life-threatening condition.
This explosion was the worst accident the whole Ningxia region has had in many years.
The city’s mayor Tao Shaohua told a press conference on Thursday night: “The cost is extremely heavy and the lesson is extremely painful.”
He also apologised, after observing a minute’s silence for the dead, and said: “We are deeply saddened and feel guilty.”
The city will immediately start a month-long safety campaign focused on gas, dangerous chemicals, mines, construction sites and transportation, in order to “nip hidden risks and hazards in the bud as much as possible”, according to the mayor.
“The inspection will begin right now from tonight.” Tao said.
Media reports said the victims included high school students and the elderly.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out efforts” in treating the injured. He also urged investigators to establish the cause of the incident and for those responsible to be punished.
According to the Yinchuan government’s official WeChat account, the explosion happened as the chef was replacing the valve on the gas tank, about an hour after staff reported smelling a leak.
The emergency management ministry sent a working group to the site, its official website said.
Official newspaper Ningxia Daily said the regional party secretary held an emergency meeting at midnight on Thursday and established an investigation team, while calling for the blast to be thoroughly investigated.
According to Xinhua, 64 families in the vicinity have been moved into hotels, while a video recorded near the scene by The Beijing News showed nearby roads and shops still closed at noon on Thursday.
According to local media reports, the restaurant was part of a well-known chain and covered two floors, with room for around 20 diners on the ground floor. The more enclosed second floor had karaoke rooms.
Barbecues are a popular dining style in northwestern China and it is likely that many of the restaurant’s patrons were celebrating the start of one of the country’s most popular festivals.
China has already seen a number of fatal incidents so far this year. A mining accident in February in the northern region of Inner Mongolia killed a record-breaking 53 people. And in April, 29 people died in a fire at a Beijing hospital.
The Yinchuan explosion is the deadliest in China since March 2019, when a blast at a chemical plant in the eastern province of Jiangsu killed 78 people.
Four months after the explosion, authorities said the company in charge of maintaining the pipeline were negligent and 11 people were arrested.
