A natural gas pipeline exploded in southwest China on Sunday, killing at least eight people and injuring another 35, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The pipeline, operated by the state-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in the town of Shazi in Guizhou province, sprang a leak after it was crushed by a landslide triggered by heavy rains, Xinhua reported.
It blew up around 10:00 am (0200 GMT). Emergency workers put out the blaze and evacuated residents, Xinhua said, citing rescuers.
Industrial accidents are common in China, where safety standards are often lax.
Last year a pipeline explosion at a power station in central China killed at least 21 people.
In 2015, giant blasts killed at least 165 people in the northern port city of Tianjin, causing over $1 billion in damage and sparking widespread anger over a perceived lack of transparency by officials about the accident's causes and environmental impact.
A government inquiry into the Tianjin accident released in February 2016 recommended 123 people be punished.
China taps 'combustible ice' for growing energy needs
China is drilling deep into the ocean floor in the hope of tapping vast deposits of a frozen fossil fuel known as "combustible ice" but it will be years before it is part of the global energy mix.
Gas hydrates are found in the seabed as well as beneath permafrost but experts say extracting methane from the ice crystals is technologically challenging and expensive.
Energy-guzzling China, … read more
