At least 31 people have died and several more were injured following a blast caused by a gas leak at a barbecue restaurant in the Chinese city of Yinchuan. An explosion at a restaurant in the northwestern Chinese city of Yinchuan has left at least 31 people dead, state media reported Thursday. Seven additional people were receiving "all-out rescue treatment" for burns and cuts from broken glass, according to the state-operated Xinhua news agency. Nine people including a restaurant owner are being held by police following the blast, state media said. "In accordance with the law, public security organs have held nine people, including the barbecue restaurant owner, shareholders and staff... and frozen their assets," state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the regional Communist Party committee. What we know about the explosion The blast occurred at around 8:40 p.m. local time at a barbeque restaurant on a busy street in the capital of the traditionally Muslim Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It was caused by "a leak of liquefied petroleum gas," Xinhua reported, citing the regional Communist Party committee. People were gathering for the start of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday. The Ministry of Emergency Management said local fire and rescue services had deployed more than 100 people and 20 vehicles to the scene. State broadcaster CCTV showed visuals of more than a dozen firefighters working at the site as smoke billowed out of a huge hole in the restaurant's facade. The footage also showed glass shards and other debris littered on the street.  Chinese President Xi Jinping told authorities to go all out to treat the wounded and said safety supervision in key sectors should be strengthened, CCTV reported. Safety issues China regularly witnesses such types of industrial accidents, usually attributed to poor government supervision, corruption, cost-cutting measures by employers and little safety training for employees. During the Asian nation's May Day holiday, at least nine people were killed in a blast at a petrochemical plant. In 2015, a series of explosions in the northern port city of Tianjin left 173 people dead.

Ex-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, his wife and many of his political aides are now banned from traveling abroad. But Khan, who himself imposed travel bans on opposition leaders while in power, stays defiant. Pakistan's government has slapped a travel ban on former Prime Minister Imran Khan, officials said on Friday. His wife, Bushra Bibi, and hundreds of his political aides have also been banned from traveling abroad, the officials added. Khan, 70, was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament last year and faces a number of legal challenges. His arrest on May 9 triggered a wave of violent protests — in which at least nine died — that subsided only after he was released on bail on a Supreme Court order three days later. More than 7,000 of his supporters have been arrested in a crackdown over the past couple of weeks. Khan reacted to the travel ban with a defiant statement on Twitter, saying he welcomed the move to put him on the so-called Exit Control List (ECL), as he had no plans to take trips abroad and would anyway rather take holidays in Pakistan. During the period it was in power from 2018 to 2022, Khan's government also imposed travel bans on several opposition leaders. Accusations of army involvement Members of Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party have blamed his arrest on the army, with which Khan has been at loggerheads for many months. Many also say the coalition government under Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif stands to benefit if Khan is found guilty, as that would bar him from taking part in future elections, possibly forever. A general election is due this year. The protests and controversy over Khan come as Pakistan is in the grips of a long-running economic crisis that has caused food prices to soar. The country of 231 million is also facing an ongoing threat of attacks by Islamist militants. Criticism over trials in military courts The government has said those who attacked military installations in protests after Khan's arrest will face summary trials in Pakistan's military courts, a move that has met with wide criticism from local and international rights groups. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said on Friday that at least 33 people had so far been handed over to the military. Several government ministers have said that a ban on Khan's party is also being considered, something that might contribute to further political chaos in the country.