A cooking gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in Yinchuan, China, left 31 people dead and seven injured. The incident occurred during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.
China gas explosion: A huge explosion of cooking gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in northwestern China left 31 people dead and seven suffering from injuries.
The explosion occurred when people had gathered during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday at around 8:40 pm on Wednesday (June 21) on a busy street in Yinchuan.
A woman standing around 50 meters from the restaurant at the time of the explosion witnessed the incident. She heard the explosion and saw two waiters emerging from the restaurant afterward. She said one of the waiters collapsed immediately. The woman also saw thick smoke billowing from the restaurant. She said a strong odor of cooking gas spread throughout the area.
According to the Central Government’s Ministry of Emergency Management, the work of search and rescue at the restaurant was finished in the morning of Thursday. The ministry said investigators were dispatched to find out the cause of the explosion.
Industrial incidents like this regularly happen in China, usually due to inadequate government supervision, cost-cutting measures by companies, corruption, and insufficient safety training for workers. At least nine deaths occurred when a blast occurred at a Chinese petrochemical plant. Three people died in a helicopter accident at the time of China’s May Day holiday.
In February, 53 miners died when a massive open pit coal mine collapsed in the northern region of Inner Mongolia. The incident led to the arrest of numerous people, and four people were arrested after a fire occurred at an industrial trading company in central China in November due to which 38 people died.
Since a 2015 chemical warehouse explosion in Tianjin killed 173 firemen and police officers, the central government has committed to improve safety. That case involved local authorities bribed to disregard safety breaches.
Conclusion:
A huge explosion of cooking gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in northwestern China left 31 people dead and seven suffering from injuries. The explosion occurred when people had gathered during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday at around 8:40 pm on Wednesday (June 21) on a busy street in Yinchuan. Industrial incidents like this regularly happen in China, usually due to inadequate government supervision, cost-cutting measures by companies, corruption, and insufficient safety training for workers. At least nine deaths occurred when a blast occurred at a Chinese petrochemical plant. Three people died in a helicopter accident at the time of China’s May Day holiday.
