Death Toll Rises in Sinopec Oil Pipeline Fire in China
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An explosion and fire yesterday at a pipeline belonging to China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s largest refiner, killed at least 47 people and leaked oil into the sea in the nation’s deadliest spillage since at least 2005.
The incident, which occurred at 10:30 a.m. yesterday at the Huangdao district in the eastern city of Qingdao, also sent 136 to nearby hospitals, the Qingdao government said today. Sinopec, as China Petroleum is known, said it was still investigating the cause of the blast, which happened as crude oil leaked from a 27-year-old pipeline into Qingdao’s municipal rainwater pipe network. The death toll was reported by the Xinhua News Agency.