Qingdao continues recovery (3)

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By He Na and Xie Chuanjiao in Qingdao, and Cui Jia and Tang Yue in Beijing (China Daily) 08:39, November 25, 2013

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No official warning

Many residents said they had been given no warning of the oil leak. "What I don't understand is why no one told us there was a leak on the oil pipeline, which is buried right next to my place of work, and why they didn't evacuate us when the repair work started?" said Li Baoli, an employee at a factory owned by Yihe Electrical Equipment Co, which is situated close by Zhaitangdao street — one of the worst-hit areas.

Li Baoli, who suffered a broken ankle in the blast, said that if the authorities had warned the factory about the possible danger, work could have been suspended for the day and many lives could have be spared.

"I wouldn't have worked here if I'd know that an explosion caused by leaking oil could be this severe. I've been working at this factory for 13 years, but I never knew that an oil pipeline ran underneath it," said the 45-year-old, speaking from his hospital bed.

He said he heard two loud bangs and was thrown to the ground by the shockwave. He attempted to run, but felt a sharp pain in his right ankle, which had been hit by flying masonry. "I had no choice but to ignore the pain. It felt as though death was chasing me when I heard a third loud bang," he recalled.

His colleagues took him to the hospital in a car with no windows — all the glass in nearby buildings and vehicles had been shattered by the explosion.

"My injury is nothing — some of my colleagues were killed. Many had blood all over their faces and people were lying on the ground in all sorts of horrible positions. It's such a tragedy," he said.