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On November 23, 2013, the president of China, Xi Jinping placed a visit to the victims of an oil pipeline blast who were admitted in Qingdao University hospital, located at the Huangdao district at the Shandong province in East China. At estimated fifty-two people were confirmed casualties in the explosion.
On Sunday, when the official death toll was released, possibilities of more explosions happening were ruled out, although the area will still be monitored closely. At the moment, eleven people are still unaccounted for and an estimated 136 are still in the hospital.
According to officials, the explosion occurred when the crude oil leaked from cracked pipelines caught fire as it reached the Huangdao district’s storm drains. City officials were very concerned about the possibilities of having more explosions since the impact of the blast damaged several other pipelines in the district and collapsed several others.
In a report by China Central Television, the President came around Sunday afternoon to personally check the rescue operations. A report was given to him after he visited the survivors at the hospital. The President mentioned he was very sad that lives were lost, and that the accident caused so much damage. He also promised that those who were responsible for the incident will be dealt with accordingly. Furthermore, relatives of those who died will be given compensation, along with those who were injured.
The blast made a crater with a diameter of 30 meters and it was said to be 6 meters deep. Last Sunday, heavy rain poured down as cranes pulled out concrete debris 20 cm thick from the crater, still full of crude oil mixed with sewage. The smell of gasoline still lingers in the air, as far as four kilometers from Huangdao’s main road which was also damage by the explosion.
Possibilities of terrorist attacks were ruled out by the government and they are still assessing the amount of damage caused by the explosion.
