BEIJING: Chinese police apprehended four suspects on Saturday linked to a restaurant blast that killed 31, state-run media reported. As many as 31 people were killed and 7 others wounded when a gas explosion ripped through a barbecue restaurant in Yinchuan, China on Wednesday.
Four arrested over China restaurant explosion
The incident happened on the eve of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday. The accused included the owner of restaurant, two shareholders and the manager, state-run news agency Xinhua said.
The suspects were captured for allegedly “causing a serious accident through negligence” and a criminal probe was under way, Xinhua reported. It said that the local public security bureau had also frozen the assets of 9 individuals, including the 4 arrested.
President Xi Jinping issued directives to provide best medical treatment to the injured people and strengthen the safety supervision and management in major industries effectively to secure people’s lives and property.
At least 17 persons died in a blaze incident at a restaurant in Changchun in September 2022, local authorities said. In January of the same year, a blast triggered by a gas leak brought down a building in Chongqing, killing over a dozen people. Similarly, as many as 25 people were killed in a gas explosion that ripped through a residential building in Shiyan in June 2021.
