Huge Pipeline Explosion in Northeastern China Causes Oil Spill

Explosion occurred while 300,000 ton foreign oil tanker was being unloaded and shook the Dalian Bay in northeast China.

Firefighters extinguish a fire after battling flames which burned for 15 hours at a port in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning province, on July 17, 2010. STR/AFP/Getty Images

[ Oil Spill in China’s Yellow Sea - NTDTV ]

An explosion that occurred while a 300,000 ton foreign oil tanker was being unloaded shook the Dalian Bay in northeast China. Fire blazed in the pipelines for nearly 15 hours before being brought under control. There have been no injuries or loss of life, according to official reports.

The tanker docked at the Dalian’s Xingang Harbor, at 6:11 p.m. on July 16. An explosion that occurred in the land pipeline while additives were being added, was followed by a fast-spreading fire.

“I heard a big bang and felt as if someone just pushed me. I thought it was an earthquake,” Chen Zhigang, inspection officer in Xingang substation of Dalian frontier inspection station, told the state run media.