Reports from China confirmed that Oil leaking from damaged pipeline caught fire, leaving at least 44 dead in
Qingdao in country's east Chinese industrial safety is again
in the spotlight after an explosion in the east of the country killed at
least 44people and contaminated seawater.
Leaked oil from a ruptured pipeline
ignited as workers cleaned up the spill, local authorities said, shattering
roads, flinging bodies across streets and shutting down a key port.
The pipeline, owned by Sinopec,
China's largest oil refiner, was leaking onto a city street in Qingdao,
Shangdong province, and into the sea for about 15 minutes before it was
shut off on Friday.
Hours later, at 10:30am (0230GMT),
the leaked oil caught fire and exploded in two locations.
According to the reports, eye witnesses stated that one blast went off at a major road
junction in Qindao, formerly known as Tsingtao, and photos posted online showed
shattered concrete slabs and human bodies scattered across the street.
Black smoke rose above gigantic fuel
silos and darkened much of the sky. At least 136 people were admitted to
hospital following the explosion.
It was China's second deadliest
industrial accident this year, after 121 people were killed in a chicken
factory fire in June in the north-eastern city of Jilin.
"[We] are deeply grieved, we
express our deep condolences for the dead, our support to their families ...
and our apologies to the whole country," Fu Chengyu, Sinopec chairman,
said.
"[We will] find out the
accident's causes as soon as possible and give a reasonable explanation to
everyone."
Contaminated sea surface
The Qingdao Environmental Protection
Bureau said barriers had been set up to contain the oil as it spread into the
sea, but that a mixture of gas and oil from a storm sewer exploded and caught
fire over the sea.
The oil had seeped into underground
utility pipes, which could have been a factor in the blasts, said officials.
More than 32,000sq ft of sea surface
had become contaminated, the city government said.
Ship brokers said Qingdao oil
terminal, one of the country's largest crude import terminals, had stopped
operations.
Oil tankers from West Africa, the
MIddle East and Brazil were held up waiting to enter Qingdao, but the
disruption appeared to have little effect on global oil prices.
China has a poor record on
industrial safety as lax law enforcement and alleged corruption enables
business owners to cut corners or offer bribes to evade safety standards.
Around 28,000 people were killed or
went missing in workplace accidents in the first half of this year, state media
has reported.
See more photos from the scenes below:
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