Photo: a picture posted on the Weibo account of Fire and Rescue Department Ministry of Emergency Management

At least nine people have been killed after a canteen collapsed following an explosion caused by a suspected gas leak in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, over 20 people were trapped following the accident, according to Chongqing authorities on Friday.

So far, 20 people have been excavated, while nine of them died, with rescue efforts still underway and the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the authorities said.

Personnel from the Chongqing local fire and rescue departments are on site, leading rescue efforts to excavate victims from underneath the collapsed rubble, according to video footage posted on the official Weibo account of the fire and rescue department of Ministry of Emergency Management on Friday.

Local fire rescue dispatched a 260-person strong rescue team in addition to 50 vehicles in response to the incident. The ministry of emergency management dispatched mining and engineering rescue teams, with a total of 60 people and 20 lifting and digging machines.  

Local officials have been overseeing rescue work from a command center and are following up to determine what caused the structure to collapse. 

A merchant in Wulong district of Chongqing, where the explosion occurred, said he suddenly heard an explosive "bang" and saw smokes outside when he was busy in his shop at around 12 pm, according to The Paper. The shop is about 100 meters away from the explosion site.

This is a developing story.

Global Times