China – The canteen exploded during lunch leaving 16 dead

At least 16 people were killed in an explosion in a local government canteen in southwest China, and ten others were injured, according to the state news agency Xinhua. The building on the outskirts of Chongqing was completely destroyed in the explosion, and all 26 employees who were having lunch there were buried under the rubble. A gas leak was suspected to be the cause of the accident.

According to Xinhua, the victims were employees of a neighborhood committee in Wulong district, which is supposed to enforce the party line at the lowest level. By midnight (local time), the rescue workers managed to rescue all those buried. According to the authorities, the injured were given medical treatment. One of them was still in mortal danger.

Photos and videos of Xinhua showed rescue workers in orange protective suits and hard hats working their way through the rubble using floodlights. Recordings by the state television broadcaster CCTV on the online networks had previously shown a cloud of smoke and dust rising over the collapsed building.

An eyewitness told the state television broadcaster Phoenix TV that the explosion was “very scary”. The window panes of her apartment were said to have burst in the detonation. The authorities started investigations into the exact cause of the explosion.

Due to lax safety precautions and a lack of controls, gas explosions are not uncommon in China. As recently as June, 25 people were killed in a gas pipeline explosion in a residential building in the central Chinese province of Hubei. In October, at least four people were killed in a gas explosion in a restaurant in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, and around 50 others were injured.