- A fireball explosion from a suspected gas leak in the town of Yanjiao has killed seven people.
- The intense blast seized national attention in China and drew controversy when frontline staff blocked local reporters.
- The explosion comes as China tries to revamp its gas safety following a series of fatal blasts in 2023.
A suspected gas leak explosion in a fried chicken store has killed seven people and injured 27 others in Yanjiao, a town just east of Beijing, state media and authorities said on Thursday morning local time.
The blast obliterated the store's building complex, leaving only its frame intact, as seen in available photos and footage on social media.
Dashcam footage from nearby vehicles showed a fireball erupting from the building, followed by dust and smoke rising several floors high.
Several neighboring storefronts sustained severe damage, while cars and traffic lights on the main road were scorched and caked with dust — indicating the explosion's reach.
State media channel CCTV published nighttime footage of excavators digging through the building's rubble.
The store exploded at 7:54 a.m. on Wednesday, the municipal Emergency Management Bureau said in a statement on Thursday, seen by Business Insider.
Rescue work was completed by 11 p.m. on Wednesday, and 14 injured have been discharged from hospital, the statement said. Authorities earlier reported that two people died from the blast, but this number later grew to seven people.
The dramatic explosion has seized national attention in China and drew further controversy after local journalists trying to report on the blast were filmed being pushed or escorted away by frontline workers.
One CCTV reporter, Yang Hailing, had her live broadcast interrupted by two uniformed men, who rushed to block the camera and forced the outlet to cut back to its studio anchors.
Another state media reporter, Xu Mengzhe, was seen physically struggling with a group of policemen who surrounded her and two colleagues.
"The three of us reporters are being pushed around by more than 10 people. Take a good look," said Xu in a clip posted on social media. She wore a jacket with a logo for China Media Group, a state-owned broadcasting company.
Xu was eventually allowed to conduct a live TV broadcast of the direct site and the destruction of the blast.
Amid online backlash, local authorities released a statement that the government workers were told to apologize. But the statement also blamed the reporters, saying they insisted on staying despite being told that gas may still be leaking at the site.
"Due to the poor communication skills of frontline staff and their rough and simplistic methods, this caused misunderstandings among journalists and public doubts, resulting in negative social impacts," the statement said.
The China Journalists Association defended the state reporters in a statement on Wednesday, though it stopped short of condemning the local officials.
"They must not control public opinion, simply and crudely obstructing media reporters from performing their duties," the association said.
The blast at Yanjiao comes months after China released new national guidelines for gas stoves in August to revamp gas safety following a series of deadly explosions in 2023.