Cooking gas explosion kills 31 people at a barbecue restaurant in northwestern China

A massive cooking gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant in northwestern China killed 31 people and injured seven, Chinese authorities said Thursday. The blast tore through the establishment at around 8:40 p.m. Wednesday on a busy street in Yinchuan, the capital of the traditionally Muslim Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, as people were gathering on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The festival is a national holiday devoted to eating rice dumplings and racing boats manned by teams of paddlers. Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded all-out treatment of the injured and a safety…