Improper work practices caused Saturday's blast at a Shanghai
gas station that claimed four lives, the municipal government said
Sunday.
Operations at the gas station, an outlet of China National
Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) located at No. 909, Third Pudong Road
in Puding New District, had been suspended since Nov. 11 for a
safety inspection.
The underground gas tanks needed to be pressurized to carry out
the inspection, said an official with the municipal department of
publicity. The official, who declined to give his name, said there
had been residual gas in the tanks, leading to the explosion at
7:50 a.m. Saturday.
Two maintenance workers at the station were killed and two
passers-by, a woman and a male cyclist, died after being struck by
debris from the blast.
The two workers were a male aged 30 from eastern Anhui Province
and another male, 46, from neighboring Jiangsu Province.
The cyclist, 29, was also from Anhui and the woman, aged 42, was
from northwestern Shaanxi Province.
The municipal official said compensation for the victims'
families was being negotiated.
Another 32 people who lived in the area or were passing through
were initially hospitalized. Most had been released by Saturday
night.
"Two seriously injured people are still hospitalized, but they
are stable," the official said.
The two workers were employees of the Shanghai Pacific Gas Co.,
Ltd. and the municipal administration of work safety is trying to
determine if they received proper training for maintenance
work.
(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2007)
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