User:Muqing112233/2024 Hebei Yanjiao deflagration accident

At 7:54 am on March 13, 2024, a gas explosion occurred in a building in Xiaozhangezhuang, Yanjiao Town, Sanhe City, Langfang City, Hebei Province, the People's Republic of China. The cause of the explosion was a leak in the gas pipeline. The accident resulted in 7 deaths and 27 injuries.

Background
As early as May 2022, a gas explosion accident occurred in a residential building in Ersan Community, Xinggongdong Street, Yanjiao Town, Sanhe City, resulting in 2 injuries and damage to the doors and windows of some residents' houses. A month later, another liquefied gas tank explosion occurred in a shop at the bottom of Fuchengshang Street in Yanjiao, injuring 22 people and causing two people to die in hospital.

In the past three years since this accident occurred, the Sanhe City authorities have launched numerous gas safety investigations across the city. The last time was on February 21, when the Sanhe Municipal Government required all departments to strengthen the daily management of gas safety in various industries and the investigation and management of hidden dangers, and to supervise and guide the management of village and street gas coordinators and inspectors.

The building where the incident occurred is a five-story building, with restaurants, flower shops and other shops on the first floor, a guest house on the third floor, and an additional building on the top floor. In addition, the Xiaozhangzhuang Village Committee near the explosion site has a construction site for the air shaft in the section of Beijing Subway Line 22. This place is only 10 meters away from nearby residential buildings, and the foundations of the residential buildings are excavated and trenches are dug. The location was only 2 meters away from the stairs of a residential building, which caused two serious short-circuit accidents in the circuits of residential buildings. For this reason, local residents have complained to the authorities many times, but there has been no progress.

Process
At 7:54 a.m. on March 13, an explosion occurred on the ground floor of the intersection of Xiaozhanggezhuang Xueyuan Street and Yingbin Road. A dull explosion was heard at the scene, and then thick smoke rose over the explosion site. At about 9 a.m., a second explosion occurred at the incident site. Fire flashed out from the ground and more smoke rose into the sky. The explosion was very powerful and affected a wide area. The windows of nearby buildings were shattered, vehicles parked on the road nearby were damaged, and the scene was a mess. After the accident, the five-story building was severely damaged and collapsed. Some passers-by were hit in the head by rubble while escaping.

It is rumored that the explosion was caused by a gas explosion in a fried chicken restaurant where the incident occurred. However, the staff of the restaurant told reporters that they did not use gas, but electricity. When the accident occurred, they had not yet started business, and the employees were still in business. Didn't come to work, didn't get hurt. According to Liu Fulai, leader of the accident investigation team, the explosion was caused by a leak in the gas pipeline.

Casualties
As of 11 o'clock that night, the rescue work was basically completed. Rescuers rescued 34 people at the scene, of which 7 died and 27 were injured. 14 of the injured were sent to the hospital for treatment, of which 2 were seriously injured and 12 suffered ordinary injuries. The ordinary injuries were mainly soft tissue injuries and fractures. There were also many people missing at the scene of the accident.

Reaction
TEDA Gas, a local gas company in Yanjiao, announced that 50 communities and units in Yanjiao will stop gas starting from March 13. The No. 6 Primary School in Sanhe City, 200 meters away from the incident, arranged for students to selectively suspend classes. Some parents went to the school to pick up their children at noon.

CCTV reporter's live broadcast blocked
At noon that day, a reporter from China Central Television was reporting live at the site of the incident. During the period, he was blocked by many men in black police uniforms and asked to leave because the area around the building where the incident occurred was dangerous and there was a risk of falling objects. CCTV2’s The live broadcast was immediately interrupted. In addition, another CCTV reporter Xu Mengzhe posted a video online showing that his group was surrounded and pushed by more than a dozen police officers during the on-site interview. That night, the All-China Journalists Association issued a statement titled "Legal Interviewing is the Right of Journalists" in response to the incident, criticizing the authorities for "simply and crudely obstructing media reporters from performing their duties" in order to control public opinion, and requested that reporters' interviews be facilitated.

In response, the Sanhe Municipal People's Government issued a briefing on March 14, stating that "due to the poor communication skills of front-line staff and crude and simple methods, it has caused misunderstandings among journalists and public doubts, and has produced adverse social impacts." And "immediately severely criticized the relevant personnel, and then sent personnel to express their apologies to the relevant journalists and friends many times." The bulletin also emphasized that the purpose of evacuating journalists was not to control public opinion, but because "the expert team of the headquarters found through professional testing that there is still a risk of natural gas leakage at the accident site." Therefore, "all non-professional rescue workers and nearby residents are required to evacuate quickly and resolutely prevent A secondary disaster occurs."

Hu Xijin also posted on Sina Weibo that he "supports CCTV reporters" and "opposes the local police's obstruction of reporting."

The Hebei Provincial Party Committee emphasized at the accident follow-up work meeting that we must consciously accept the supervision of public opinion and support and guarantee the legitimate interviews of media reporters.

See

 * 2011 Xi’an Roujiamo restaurant explosion
 * Explosion accident at the Liquefied Gas Management Office of Xi'an Gas Company
 * Shiyan gas explosion accident in 2021
 * 2022 Tianjin Baodi 6·21 gas leakage and explosion accident
 * 2023 Ningxia Yinchuan barbecue restaurant explosion accident