China Gas Explosion Traps 20 in Collapsed Dining Hall

(Bloomberg) -- More than 20 people were believed to be trapped in a Chinese dining hall after a suspected gas explosion, a type of incident frequent enough to have drawn attention from President Xi Jinping. 

The blast occurred Friday in the canteen of a local government office in the southwestern city Chongqing, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. A gas leak is thought to have triggered the explosion, which caused the building in the city’s Wulong district to collapse, Xinhua said. 

Diners were having lunch at the time, Xinhua said citing witnesses. The injured were sent to hospital for treatment and rescue work is ongoing, the report said. 

A similar incident in June prompted the removal of seven officials and the punishment of more than 20 others in the central city of Shiyan. Xi ordered local authorities to learn from that incident and work harder to prevent major emergencies and protect lives and property, the Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper said at the time. 

In October, another explosion killed three people and injured more than 30 others at a restaurant in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. 

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With assistance from Bloomberg