Xinhua, Taiyuan, May 9 (Lu Qiguo, Wu Qiong) At 16:56 on May 8, a high-rise residential building in Jiaheyuan Community, Ximing Road, Wanlin District, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, suffered a natural gas explosion, resulting in multiple households. The house was damaged to varying degrees and the two were taken to hospital.
The staff cleared debris in the small garden on the south side of Building 4. Photo by Lu Qiguo
The explosion occurred in a tenant's house on the 12th floor of Building 4 in Jiaheyuan Community. It can be seen from the surveillance video of the community that before the explosion, a man had just exited the building and was descending the stairs. As the surveillance screen shook violently, the man was obviously frightened, and the cat strode forward with his waist. As soon as he ran out, a lot of debris continued to fall above the steps. "This person responded quickly, and finally escaped a catastrophe, otherwise it would be troublesome to be hit by debris," a resident said.
The elevator in residential building No. 4 was damaged by the explosion of natural gas. Photo courtesy of rescuers
After the explosion, fire and smoke erupted from the 12-story homes. When the firefighters arrived at the scene, they first carried a man on his back and moved to a safe area outside the building, and then put out an open fire with a water gun. According to witnesses, two people were taken to the hospital by ambulance in succession, and neither of them was in danger.
A video provided by a resident of the community showed that the residents of the 12th floor of Building 4 were seriously damaged in the home, the room items were messy, and the decoration materials and cement blocks scattered on the ground were everywhere.
The homes of the residents in the explosion were seriously damaged. Photo courtesy of rescuers
At noon on the 9th, the reporter saw in the Jiaheyuan community that the surrounding area of the No. 4 residential building was isolated by a security belt. Six persons wearing sanitation overalls were clearing scattered debris and other debris in the small garden on the south side of the building. The rear windshield of a Haval SUV vehicle parked on the south side of the small garden was blown, and the roof of a Santana car next to it was covered with glass slag.
"The power of the explosion is scary," a resident said. The elevator in residential building No. 4 was obviously damaged during the explosion and has now been shut down. The resident's friend was standing on the side of the road a few hundred meters away. He could hear the dull explosion and see smoke from a distance.
The rear windshield of a Haval car parked on the south side of Building 4 was blown. Photo by Lu Qiguo
Following the finger of a resident on the scene, the reporter saw that the windows of the residents from the 8th to the 15th floors of Building 4 were obviously damaged. Among them, the window glass of the residents of the 8th and 9th floors was partially damaged, and the damage of the windows of the remaining several floors of the residents was relatively serious. The window frames of the 12-story residents who had exploded fell off, the natural gas meter was burst, the interior wall decoration layer fell off, and most of the furniture was destroyed.
On the afternoon of the 9th, the customer service staff of Taiyuan Natural Gas Company introduced that after the incident, they shut down the gas source for the first time, and it is still uncertain when to resume gas supply. In the next step, they will conduct a thorough investigation and overhaul of the natural gas pipeline in the community, and all the residents in the household will be required to suppress the test to confirm that there is no hidden safety hazard before the gas supply can be restored.
The cause of the natural gas leak is under investigation. (Finish)