6 cooks saved from kitchen gas blast

By Li Xinran  |   2009-1-30  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

SIX cooks in east China's Zhejiang Province were pulled from the rubble of a restaurant after a gas explosion on Wednesday flattened the building.

The blast happened at 8:50am at a two-story restaurant in Hangzhou's Xiaoshan District. Neighbors thought it was fireworks at first but then heard people yelling for help, the Hangzhou-based City Express reported yesterday.

The brick-constructed kitchen was completely destroyed in the explosion, and the six cooks working there were trapped in the ruins.

Firefighters quickly pulled five of them to safety but the last man was trapped under the collapsed roof and a stove. Firefighters used hydraulic equipment to create a safe passage to reach the man.

Four of the cooks are still in hospital being treated for burns but are expected to recover.

A preliminary investigation suggested a pipe linking a gas canister and the stove malfunctioned because of water.