BEIJING, March 13: Rescuers were responding to a suspected gas leak explosion Wednesday in a building in northern China that has killed one person and injured 22, authorities said.

The explosion came early in the morning from a fried chicken shop in the city of Sanhe, authorities said in a short statement. The city is just an hour drive west of Beijing.

Videos online showed smoke billowing out of a mid-level commercial building at an intersection. Fires were still burning, according to CCTV, and 154 firefighters were sent there to control the damage.

Police cordoned off streets 1 kilometer (over half a mile) out from the explosion, Associated Press reporters saw, and were directing people away. Fire engines were still arriving at the scene as of 11 a.m., and a truck could be seen hauling away a burnt-out car with its windows gone.

 
• northern_China
 
• gas_leak_explosion
 
• one_killed
 
• two_injured