Chongqing blast claims 16
GAS LEAK SUSPECTED IN SW CHINA BUILDING COLLAPSE
>>CHONGQING: At least 16 people died when an explosion triggered by a suspected gas leak caused a building to collapse Friday in the Chinese city of Chongqing, state media said.
The blast at 12:10pm (local time) brought down a neighbourhood committee building housing a canteen, trapping 26 people, the Xinhua news agency said.
In the early hours of yesterday, Xinhua put the new death toll at 16, with 10 more injured, one of them critically. It said in its latest update that as of midnight, all those trapped had been pulled out.
The injured people are receiving medical treatment, Chongqing authorities said through their verified account on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
Footage posted by state broadcaster CCTV on social media showed smoke and dust billowing from the collapsed building in Wulong district on the outskirts of the southwestern megacity.
The scene of the blast appeared to be in the middle of other buildings and was surrounded by a crowd of bystanders earlier on Friday.
Another clip by Xinhua showed dozens of rescuers in military fatigues jogging along a road to the site carrying shovels over their shoulders.
More than 150 fire and rescue workers have been deployed to the site, CCTV said.
Heavy lifting and excavation equipment have also been sent to the scene.
The cause of the blast remains under investigation.
Local authorities set up an “on-site emergency response headquarters” to direct the rescue work and provide medical treatment, the state-run People’s Daily reported.
An eyewitness told state-run Phoenix TV that the blast was “very scary ... our windows have all been blown to pieces”.
Officials demanded the “fastest possible rescue” and ordered service personnel to “spare no effort to rescue the injured and strictly guard against secondary disasters”, the newspaper said.