31 dead in China barbecue restaurant explosion

• Staffers smelled gas about an hour before explosion.
• Police have detained 9 people and frozen their assets.
• China President Xi Jinping calls incident "heartbreaking." 

A gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in Yinchuan, northwest Ningxia region, China has left 31 people dead and seven injured. The explosion was caused by a leak from a liquified gas tank inside the restaurant and took place around 8:40 pm on Wednesday night. 

Among the seven injured, one person is still in critical condition while the other six are being treated in the hospital for minor injuries, burns, and glass cuts.

Local fire authorities sent 20 vehicles and more than 100 personnel to the scene, with search and rescue operations lasting until 4 a.m. Thursday, according to state media. 

Photos posted by state media show the damaged building, with blackened exteriors, debris on the ground, and smoke in the air. Firefighters are seen entering the second floor on a ladder and lifting people out on stretchers.

Interviews by police and firefighters on the scene established that two restaurant staffers had smelled gas about an hour before the explosion, the Yinchuan government said in a statement posted online Thursday. 

The government has launched an investigation into the incident, and the restaurant owner has been detained by police.

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred in China. In 2019, a gas explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, eastern China, killed 78 people and injured hundreds more. 

The Chinese government has since taken measures to improve safety standards and prevent such incidents from happening again.

Police have detained nine people and frozen their assets, including the restaurant's manager, employees, and shareholders. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has expressed his condolences and called the incident "heartbreaking." 

He urged authorities to treat the wounded, comfort the victims' families, and investigate the cause of the accident as soon as possible. He also ordered relevant government authorities to conduct a safety risk review and strengthen safety supervision in key sectors.

This incident comes just before China's three-day national public holiday, from Thursday to Saturday, marking the Dragon Boat Festival. Unfortunately, China has experienced several safety incidents this year, including a coal mine collapse in Inner Mongolia in February that left 53 dead, and the deadliest fire to hit Beijing in two decades in April, which killed 29 people in a hospital. It is essential to prioritize safety and work towards preventing such incidents from happening again.