Nine officials held in China for oil pipeline blasts

BEIJING, Nov 26:  Nine people, including seven officials of China’s state-owned top oil firm Sinopec have been taken into custody by the police in connection with the last week’s oil pipeline leakage and blasts resulting in the death of 55 people in coastal city of Qingdao.
Seven of those who were detained belonged to Sinopec, the country’s largest oil refinery which owns the pipeline, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.
The two are from the city’s economic and technological development zone, it quoted police officials investigating the accident as saying.
Fifty five people were killed and over 160 injured in the November 22 blasts which caused extensive damage to the city’s main road and building around it.
Nine people were listed missing in the incident. The arrests came after President Xi Jinping visited the city and inspected the damage. (PTI)