Huge China restaurant explosion kills at least one, injures 22

Hong Kong CNN —

A deadly suspected gas explosion ripped through a residential neighborhood in northern China on Wednesday, leaving a scene of devastation and multiple people wounded.

The powerful blast occurred just before 8 a.m. at a ground-floor restaurant in a residential area of Sanhe city, Hebei province, east of the capital Beijing, state broadcaster CCTV said.

It destroyed the four-story building, and rescuers were searching the rubble for anyone trapped inside, according to CCTV.

The explosion killed one person and injured 22 others, the city government said in a statement Wednesday morning, adding that the venue was a fried chicken restaurant.

The dramatic blast and its aftermath were captured in footage circulating on Chinese social media site Weibo, which showed a large fireball exploding from a multistory building, crumbling its walls and ceiling and sending huge plumes of smoke high into the sky.

The blast ripped through a four-story building, state media said.

At least three buildings were severely damaged, with one of them left in a skeletal state. Firefighters were seen putting out the blaze, surrounded by crushed cars and piles of debris, according to videos and photos on Weibo.

Local residents said on social media they heard a loud bang in the early morning and felt their buildings trembling.

Buildings across the street from the blast site were also impacted, with glass shattered and shop signs damaged, footage aired on CCTV showed.

China has seen a series of deadly incidents caused by gas leaks in recent years.

Last June, a gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in northwest Ningxia region killed 31 people. Following that blast, Chinese market regulators issued detailed guidelines on the use