Beijing restaurant destroyed by explosion

A gas explosion has leveled a Xinjiang restaurant in downtown Beijing, weeks after the latest tensions in that area in the west of the country and ahead of next week’s sensitive 60th anniversary of communist China’s founding.

The restaurant in the Xinjiekou area of central Beijing collapsed. Officials and the official Xinhua News Agency said the cause was a gas cylinder explosion at about 9am Friday. Such blasts are not uncommon in restaurants and homes in China due to lax safety and building standards. There were no indications of a bomb.

Police said they did not know of any deaths or people missing from the blast.

Police on the scene told The Associated Press it was a Xinjiang restaurant and its name on a list of Beijing restaurants was Xinjiang Kashgar restaurant. 

 

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