The death toll from Friday’s blast sparked by a suspected gas leak in China increased to 16, local media reported on Saturday.


The blast caused a canteen to collapse in China’s southwestern Chongqing municipality on Friday afternoon, trapping more than 20 people, according to the daily Global Times report.

Ten injured people, one of them in critical condition, were rushed to hospital.

Some 260 rescue personnel and 50 vehicles were dispatched to carry out search and rescue activities.