4TH LD: 191 die, scores poisoned in Chinese gas well blast

Asian Economic News, Dec 29, 2003

BEIJING, Dec. 25 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATES WITH REPORT UP TO 16,000 PEOPLE EVACUATED)

A blowout at a natural gas field in southwestern China that sent a plume of poisonous gas into the air Tuesday has killed at least 191 people and poisoned scores of others, official media reported Thursday.

The explosion occurred at 10 p.m. Tuesday at the Chuandongbei gas field in the Kaixian area of the Chongqing municipality, when a well burst and released a high concentration of natural gas and sulfurated hydrogen about 30 meters high, Xinhua News Agency said.

Residents within 5 kilometers of the site have been evacuated, Xinhua reported.

Reuters news agency quoted a gas official as saying authorities have evacuated up to 16,000 people from the area, mostly farmers.

According to the China Daily, the Kaixian County People's Hospital was treating between 200 and 300 people with poisoning symptoms.

''There are farmers and miners, old and young, men and women,'' a hospital worker surnamed Zhang was quoted as saying. ''Some died after they arrived here.''

Other hospitals in the region had reportedly also received large numbers of patients, the daily said on its Web site.

Another hospital worker was quoted as saying, ''We are very busy. There are patients everywhere. We haven't counted the casualties.''

Some had been poisoned and others had suffered chemical burns, he said.

Meanwhile, Chinese leaders Thursday called for unreserved efforts in searching and rescuing the victims.

President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Huang Ju all issued instructions to relevant departments to go all out to rescue victims, prevent poisonous gas from spreading further and reduce casualties, the daily said.

The gas field, with a storage capacity of 50-60 billion tons of natural gas, is run by the Sichuan Petroleum Administration under China National Petroleum Corp., according to Xinhua.

Chongqing and the neighboring province of Sichuan are among China's major natural gas producing areas.