About 7,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after a leak was discovered at a gas well in a southwest Chinese town where 243 people were killed in an earlier gas leak, state media and an official said yesterday. No injuries were reported.
Workers at the gas field in Kaixian County near the city of Chongqing ignited gas at the mouth of the well on Saturday to avoid the possibility of a buildup and an explosion, said a county official who would give only his surname, Xia.
About 7,000 people who were evacuated lived within 1km of the well, state television said.
PHOTO: AP
"There's no danger now," Xia said in a telephone interview.
He said workers were hoping to shut down the well yesterday and allow residents to return home.
The incident occurred in the same mountain town of Gaoqiao in Kaixian County where 243 people were killed in another gas leak in December 2003 -- one of the country's worst industrial accidents.
That leak spewed a deadly cloud of natural gas and hydrogen sulfide over a 25km2 area. Many residents died in their sleep or collapsed while trying to flee, leaving the area strewn with bodies.
About 9,000 people were hurt and more than 41,000 villagers were forced from their homes around the Chuandongbei Gas Field northeast of Chongqing. Many survivors suffered lung damage and burns on their eyes and skin.
Six employees of the Chuandong (East Sichuan) Drilling Co were sentenced to prison in 2004 for negligence.
The same company was operating the 3,400m deep well in the latest incident, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The leak was discovered during "final tests which were being conducted to bring the just-finished well into production," Xinhua said. It did not give any more details.
A man who answered the telephone at Chuandong said he wasn't clear on how or where the leak had occurred. He said many workers were trying to shut down the well. He refused to give his name.
Another official from Kaixian County said residents have also been warned against drinking from a section of a nearby river, which started "rolling and foaming" on Saturday morning.
The official, who gave only his surname, Tan, said the water appeared to contain methane, possibly one of the gases in the well.
The water was being monitored, Tan said.
Danger zone
* A leak was discovered in a gas well operated by the Chuandong Drilling Co in Kaixian County.
* About 7,000 people living within 1km of the well were evacuated and workers were trying to shut down the well.
* The incident occurred in the same town where a gas leak in 2003 killed 243 people.
* Chuandong Drilling Co also operated the well in the earlier incident, which resulted in six of its employees being sent to jail for negligence.
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