An explosion caused by a gas leak at a cake shop in downtown Beijing killed two and injured 19 others on Wednesday morning, Chinese media said.
The incident occurred at 7.35am at a branch of Auspicious Phoenix cake store in a building near Guangming bridge, state-run China News Service reported.
Nine fire engines arrived on the scene, state television CCTV said. Pictures on Legal Evening News’ microblog showed at least one person lying on the ground and a woman walking despite being covered in blood. Other photos showed heavy smoke coming from the store, although no flames were seen.
The injured store employees were taken to hospital and four of them were in critical condition, the news agency said, citing rescuers.
Police said they extracted from the wreck two gas tanks each weighing 50kg, and in a preliminary investigation, they ruled out the possibility that the explosion was an attack.