M A I N   N E W S

China gas field blast kills at least 191

Fire pours out of the mouth of a natural gas well in China's southwestern municipality of Chongqing to reduce the amount of poisonous gas released into the air on Thursday. — Reuters photo

Beijing, December 25
At least 191 persons were killed and scores poisoned or burned when an explosion at a natural gas field in south-west China released a plume of noxious fumes, medical workers and state media said today.

Authorities in the municipality of Chongqing evacuated residents within 5 km of the Chuandongbei gas field after a well burst on Tuesday, spewing a high concentration of natural gas and sulfurated hydrogen some 30 metres into the air, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The Chuandongbei field, in Kaixian county, belongs to China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), parent of oil major PetroChina.

The cause of the disaster was still being investigated but a CNPC official in Chongqing said the well had burst while drilling was underway.

Another CNPC official in Beijing said the blast had not caused a fire.

It was unclear why the death toll had shot up two days after the accident or why it was rising dramatically from hour to hour today. Earlier Xinhua had reported that 133 had died but soon raised that to 163 and then 191.

The radio quoted a government official as saying the natural gas well that had burst would be sealed tomorrow.

In Kaixian, doctors and nurses at a local hospital were swamped with patients.

Some of the victims had been poisoned and others had suffered chemical burns, he said declining to give other details or his name. Another hospital worker said the injured included men, women and children from the area around the site, in addition to gas field workers. — Reuters