BEIJING - At least 31 people were killed when an explosion caused by a gas leak ripped through a restaurant in the north-western Chinese city of Yinchuan, state media said on Thursday.

The blast at the Fuyang Barbecue Restaurant occurred at about 8.40pm on Wednesday, the eve of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, when many in China go out and socialise with friends.

Footage on state broadcaster CCTV showed more than a dozen firefighters at the site as smoke poured out of a gaping hole in the restaurant’s facade.

Shards of glass and other debris littered the darkened street, which is also home to a number of other eateries and entertainment venues.

Nine people, including the restaurant’s “owner, shareholders and staff”, were held by police following the explosion, the state broadcaster said, adding that “their assets have been frozen”.

“A leak of liquefied petroleum gas... caused an explosion during the operation of a barbecue restaurant,” state news agency Xinhua said of the blast, citing the regional Communist Party committee.

Seven more people were receiving medical treatment, the agency said, with one of them in “critical condition”. Two others suffered severe burns and two had minor injuries.

High school students and retirees were among the casualties, many of whom died due to suffocation likely caused by smoke inhalation, state-backed media outlet The Paper said, citing anonymous officials involved in the rescue effort.

The eatery is located in a residential area of downtown Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia autonomous region. It is well-known locally with a loyal following, according to media reports.

Xi orders probe

Chinese President Xi Jinping “demanded all-out efforts in treating the wounded and the strengthening of safety supervision and management in key industries and fields to effectively protect people’s lives and property”, Xinhua said on Thursday.

Mr Xi “urged efforts to ascertain the cause of the accident as soon as possible and hold the relevant people accountable in accordance with the law”, the agency said.

“All regions and related departments should screen for and rectify all types of risks and hidden dangers,” Xinhua quoted Mr Xi as saying.

The Ministry of Emergency Management said local fire and rescue services had dispatched more than 100 people and 20 vehicles to the scene in the wake of the blast.

The local authorities “immediately... demanded that all-out search and rescue efforts be organised, the wounded be properly treated and casualties be reduced as much as possible”, the ministry said.

The rescue efforts had concluded by 4am on Thursday, it added.

At a press conference on Thursday evening, city officials in dark suits and ties bowed solemnly. 

“On behalf of the city’s party committee and government, I express deep mourning for the deceased, my sincere condolences to their relatives and the injured... and a profound apology to all the people of our city,” said Yinchuan Mayor Tao Shaohua. 

The authorities will “clarify the cause” of the incident as quickly as possible and announce the results of the investigation “in a timely manner”, he said. 

Officials would also carry out a “great screening and rectification campaign to eliminate (safety) risks and hidden dangers at the root”, he added. 

Scenes of chaos

One video posted on social media showed two shirtless men, their trousers tattered and upper bodies covered in dust, crouching and standing dazed on a busy street sprayed with broken glass.

Another clip showed fire engines and ambulances tearing through the streets nearby, flashing blue and red lights and sounding their sirens.

Social media images showed many people gathering behind an emergency cordon on the opposite side of the street, with some visibly distressed.

The explosion at the two-storey establishment sparked discussion on Chinese social media about the safety of barbecue restaurants.

“All barbecue shops in the country should be shut down and rectified,” a Chinese social media user wrote on popular Twitter-like microblog Weibo. “Profits should not be earned with the blood of the people.”

Explosions and other deadly incidents are relatively common in China, where building codes are often poorly enforced and widespread unauthorised construction can make it hard for people to flee burning structures.

Three people were killed this month after a series of explosions caused by fireworks struck residential buildings in the northern city of Tianjin.

At least 17 people died in a fire at a restaurant in the north-eastern city of Changchun in September 2022, according to statements given at the time by the local authorities.

In January 2022, an explosion triggered by a suspected gas leak brought down a building in the city of Chongqing, killing more than a dozen people.

And in June 2021, 25 people were killed in a gas blast that ripped through a residential compound and a busy two-storey building packed with shoppers in Shiyan in Hubei province. AFP