Gas explosion kills 12, injures 138
Destroyed a wet market
BEIJING (Global Times) — A gas explosion happened in a community in Zhangwan district of Shiyan, Central China’s Hubei Province, on Sunday early morning, killing 12 and injuring 138 as of 2 p.m. Sunday.
Rescue work and investigations on what caused the explosion are underway, a local official spokesperson surnamed Gao told the Global Times on Sunday.
China’s Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a working team to Shiyan to guide the rescue work.
The explosion took place at round 6 a.m. at Yanhu community, and reportedly destroyed a wet market there and greatly affected nearby residents.
“Hearing the loud bang, I immediately scrabbled beneath the table, thinking it was an earthquake,” a resident surnamed Liu, who owns a small restaurant some 20 meters away from the explosion site, told the Global Times via phone on Sunday.
Liu was in his restaurant when the explosion happened. He recalled the scary moment when the floor was shaking violently, and food ingredients on the table in the kitchen being “thrown onto the ground” by the strenuous shockwaves.
Initially thinking a big earthquake had happened, Liu crouched down under the table to avoid potential dangers until the shaking stopped. He then ran out of the house.
“It was all mess around,” he told the Global Times.
A video of the explosion site published by the media outlet youth. cn shows the horrifying scenes of houses being ruined into big concrete chunks and piles of broken wood, and the air ticking with dust. Walls of some buildings are blackened by the heat of the explosion.
Rescue personnel soon arrived after the explosion. As of press time, a total of 150 people have been pulled from the debris, and the injured are being treated at local hospitals, local authorities said.