A screenshot of the video of the fire site in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin Province, according to Zhengguan Media

An explosion accident which killed 17 and injured three people in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin Province, on Wednesday was caused by a gas leak based on a preliminary investigation, said the fire and rescue department of the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM).

The MEM has dispatched a working team to the site to guide the rescue efforts. The local fire and rescue team immediately dispatched 13 vehicles and 60 personnel to the site to carry out rescue work, which has already been concluded, said the MEM via Sina Weibo on Wednesday. 

The authorities required the related departments to draw lessons from the accident and eliminate hidden risks to prevent similar accidents from happening again.

At 12:40 pm on Wednesday, Changchun fire and rescue department received a report of the fire accident and immediately rushed to the site. The wounded were sent to hospitals immediately. The Jilin provincial and city authorities also established a command center on site for rescue, treatment and investigation operations. The search and rescue finished at 3 pm on Wednesday, according to Changchun authorities.

The onsite video going viral showed that the smoke billowed from the site. The topic also triggered wide attention from netizens, receiving more than 48 million clicks on Chinese twitter-like Sina Weibo as of press time, with many netizens sending their sympathy to the deceased and hoping the wounded personnel will recover soon. 

The person in charge of the restaurant has been detained. The aftermath work has been carried out and further investigation is underway.

Jilin provincial government on Wednesday held a meeting to further ensure production safety and firmly ward off major accidents, noting they will comprehensively investigate hidden dangers in key sectors. 

The authorities will carry out a large-scale daily inspection in the entire province, focusing on restaurants that use bottled liquefied gas and fuel gas, in order to rectify the hidden dangers as early as possible.