China oil pipeline fire put out
By IANSSaturday, July 17, 2010
BEIJING - A massive fire that engulfed a port in northeast China has been put out Saturday, 15 hours after some 2,000 firefighters were pressed into service to contain the inferno, a media report said Saturday.
The fire broke out after two oil pipelines, owned by China National Petroleum Corp, exploded Friday.
The flames engulfed the port of Dalian in Liaoning province, but no one was hurt in the accident, China Daily reported on its website quoting a government spokesman.
“The firefighters had switched off the valves on oil tanks and brought the flames under control,” Xu Guochen, secretary-general of Dalian city administration, told reporters.
He said more than 2,000 firefighters and 338 fire engines battled the inferno through the night.
President Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and other senior officials visited the site Friday night to direct rescue work.
The air force had sent two Y8 aircraft with 17.8 tonnes of fire extinguishing agent. The area was covered with smog Saturday morning and residents complained of a foul odour.
Xu said the flames released sulphur and aromatic hydrocarbon gases into the atmosphere but they are not fatally toxic.
