AN explosion at a Shanghai gas station Saturday killed four people, including a bicyclist about a kilometer away who was struck by flying debris.

More than two dozen people were injured by the explosion in China’s main commercial city. Windows in nearby buildings shattered, while shock waves damaged a bus and injured several passengers, Xinhua News Agency reported, without giving details.

The accident was blamed on workers doing maintenance on the gas station’s storage facility, Xinhua reported. An unidentified woman and two maintenance workers were also killed, the agency said.

A woman who works in the emergency room at Punan Hospital said that about 30 people were being treated there for injuries from the explosion, but that most were not seriously hurt. The woman refused to give her name, which is common among media-shy Chinese.

A duty officer at the fire department in Shanghai’s Pudong New District said he was “not clear” about details of the blast. The Shanghai city government, fire department and public security bureau either refused to comment or their phones rang unanswered.

The gas station, an outlet of China National Petroleum Corp., was reportedly under renovation and was to re-open later this month.

(SD-Agencies)