A fire and explosion at a Chinese-owned shop in northern Laos on Friday killed four people, including Chinese nationals, and injured several others, the Chinese consulate in Luang Prabang said.
The blast occurred around 10 a.m. local time at the shop in Xay district in Oudomxay province, the consulate said. China’s Xinhua News Agency said it happened in Nami village and caused significant damage to surrounding houses.
“After fire rescue [arrived], the fire was [put] under control and the injured were sent to the hospital,” the consulate said, adding that the cause of the incident is under investigation.
Witnesses confirmed the blast to RFA Lao but had few details. Photos circulated by the Lao Red Cross in Oudomxay showed a fire truck parked at the front a badly damaged commercial property, with black smoke billowing into the sky.
The consulate in Luang Prabang, which is also located in northern Laos, said the Chinese Embassy and consulate had activated an emergency response.
Chinese presence is palpable in Oudomxay and other regions in northern Laos, fueled in part by construction of the US$6 billion high-speed railway connecting Kunming, China to the Lao capital Vientiane.
Despite the injection of investment, Laotians have complained that Chinese have an outsized economic influence over its small Southeast Asian neighbor.
Edited by Joshua Lipes and Mat Pennington.