17 killed in a blast at a restaurant in China, investigation under way

Shanghai: A liquefied gas cylinder exploded at a restaurant in eastern China at lunchtime on Saturday, causing a fire accident which killed 17 people. The explosion happened just a while before noon at a small private restaurant at Wuhu city's Jinghu district, the Wuhu city government said on its micro blog. Wuhu is a Anhui province, which is just west of Shanghai. The food court was one of many in an alley about 50 meters(yard) long, said a worker at a rice noodles restaurant across from the one where the blast happened.

"When the fire broke out, people from nearby restaurants rushed to the scene and used fire extinguishers to try and put it out, but there was a lot of smoke and it was quite fierce and already blocked the door," the worker, who would only give his surname, Wang, said by telephone.