At least 3 killed, more than 30 injured in gas explosion in northeast China

CNN

By Steven Jiang and Nectar Gan, CNN

At least three people were killed and more than 30 injured in a powerful explosion at a restaurant in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on Thursday morning, according to local authorities.

The gas explosion took place in a mixed-use residential and commercial building, authorities said in a statement. All the injured have been sent to hospitals, the statement added.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the blast.

Search and rescue efforts are ongoing with 25 fire trucks and 110 firefighters deployed to the site as of late Thursday morning, the local fire department said.

Photos and videos reportedly taken at the blast site — posted by witnesses and carried widely by state media outlets — show a concrete skeleton is all that was left of the building; windows of nearby buildings were shattered, vehicles damaged, and streets covered in debris.

The explosion was captured in a dashcam video widely shared on social media. Following the blast, a cloud of dust enveloped the street and debris rained down from buildings, sending bystanders fleeing.

CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the images and footage.

Shenyang, home to more than 9 million people, is the capital of Liaoning province.

In June, a gas explosion at a market in central China killed 25 people and injured more than 130.

This is a developing story.

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