Three family members got injured after stolen gas in a plastic bag exploded in a central China village.

Li Guotang stored the gas he stole in a plastic bag, which exploded on June 16 injuring his wife and 10-month-old granddaughter Yanyan seriously.

For about two decades, some villagers in Puyang county, Henan province, have been stealing gas from the nearby Zhongyuan oil field. They use the gas for cooking, storing it in oversized plastic bags, which are about two meters tall and more than five meters long. One bag of gas can supply enough for a family's cooking needs for one month.

Liu, who lives in the village, said the process has not gone wrong in more than 20 years. "You just need to be careful - make sure there is no open fire around the gas bag. Now that there has been an accident, it could be a cigarette or an electrical wire that catches fire next."