Gas blast in China kills at least 12, rescue operation ongoing: Officials

BEIJING: At least 12 people were killed and nearly 140 others injured when a gas line explosion ripped through a residential compound in central China's Hubei province on Sunday (Jun 13), local officials said.

Rescue efforts were continuing, according to a statement from the disaster management bureau in the city of Shiyan, although it was unclear how many people may still be trapped under the debris.

The explosion took place at about 6.30am and an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the blast, the statement said.

Responders sent 138 people to hospital, of which 37 were critically injured, according to a statement on the city's official website.

Videos shot by witnesses and verified by Beijing News show several buildings reduced to rubble and rescue workers carrying shocked survivors on stretchers.

The blast ripped through one of the city's vegetable markets that was filled with shoppers and local residents eating breakfast, an eyewitness told state-run Global Times.

"I heard a loud bang and immediately ducked under the table, thinking it was an earthquake," a man who owns a small restaurant near the explosion site told the newspaper.

State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of buildings with charred walls and shattered windows. Rescuers are seen raking through the debris with shovels and gloved hands.

People can be seen walking in a rubble-strewn street between damaged buildings.

Images also show rescuers climbing over broken concrete slabs to reach those trapped inside.

Hospitals in Shiyan are asking residents to donate blood, as the injured are still under emergency treatment, CCTV said.

The Ministry of Emergency Management has also sent a team to assist with the rescue operation.

Industrial accidents are common in China due to weak safety standards and corruption among officials tasked with enforcing them.

The blast came a day after eight people were killed and three others injured when toxic methyl formate leaked from a chemical handling facility in the southwestern city of Guiyang.

Among the worst accidents was a massive 2015 explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin that killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers. The blast was blamed on illegal construction and unsafe storage of volatile materials.