ALBAWABA- A devastating fire tore through a restaurant near a resettlement housing complex in Liaoyang, Liaoning Province, killing 22 people and injuring 3 others.
Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the blaze, but an investigation is underway.
President Xi Jinping called the tragedy “a deeply sobering lesson” and has ordered a swift and thorough probe into the incident.
The fire adds to a troubling pattern of deadly incidents across China, including several recent gas explosions, prompting concerns that another leak may have triggered the Liaoyang blaze.
In March 2024, a suspected gas explosion devastated a residential neighborhood in Sanhe city, Hebei Province, just east of Beijing.
The powerful blast, which occurred around 8 a.m. at a ground-floor restaurant, killed seven people, injured 27, and flattened a four-story building, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Earlier, in June 2023, 31 people lost their lives in a gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant. In January 2022, another 16 were killed in a similar blast in southwest China.
