Chinese market gas blast kills 12
- The explosion at a market in Shiyan in Hubei province on Sunday morning injured more than 130 people
- Accident follows death of eight people in a chemical leak in Guizhou province the previous day
01:01
At least 12 killed, more than 130 injured in a gas explosion at central China market
A gas blast at a market in central China has killed at least 12 and seriously injured another 37, China Central Television reported on Sunday.
The explosion took place at about 6.30am at the Yanhu market in Shiyan, a city in Hubei province, when many residents were having breakfast or buying vegetables in the market, according to the report. A total of 150 people were rescued and 138 were injured, the report added.
It was the latest serious accident in China that caused multiple deaths. A chemical leak on Saturday killed at least eight people and injured another three in Guiyang, the capital of the southern province of Guizhou, on Saturday.
A notice issued by the Shiyan government said it was looking into the cause of the blast.
An initial investigation concluded that the blast was caused by a gas pipeline, according to cqcb.com, a news portal run by the Chongqing government.
Video footage published on the online news portal Btime.com showed the market had been destroyed, with almost all the windows and doors in the two-storey building shattered and the streets filled with rubble.