14 DAY TRIAL // As if the ongoing airpocalypse were not enough, recent news from China says that, this past Friday, an oil pipeline exploded in Qingdao, one of the country's eastern port cities. By the looks of it, the incident is one of the worst of its kind to have been reported in China this year.
Information shared with the public says that the pipeline in question is owned and operated by Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner. It connects Huangdao to Weifang in the northeastern province of Shandong.
The pipeline reportedly started leaking Friday morning. In just 15 minutes, workers realized what was happening and the pipeline was shut down.
However, it appears that, by that time, a significant amount of oil had already worked its way into the underground. For reasons yet unknown, the oil caught fire and two major explosions occurred.
The blasts happened just as workers were trying to clean up the spill, Daily Mail reports.
Apparently, one of the explosions was so violent that it opened a hole in a local road. The windows of local buildings also shattered, and several cars were turned topsy-turvy.
Preliminary reports say that at least 35 people lost their lives in the explosions, and that 166 other were injured. Given the severity of the incident, it is likely that the death toll will up in the hours to come.
What's more, it appears that some of the oil worked its way to the ocean and contaminated about 32,000 square feet (2,973 square meters) of sea surface.
Despite the fact that, in the aftermath of the incident, impressive amounts of dark smoke rose into the air, local authorities maintain that air quality in the region has not in any way been affected.
A spokesperson for Sinopec told the press that an investigation was ongoing, and that more information would soon become available to the public.
“We will investigate the incident with responsibility and give timely reports,” he said in a statement.