The Associated Press via The Virginian-Pilot
BEIJING — An oil pipeline exploded at a Chinese port, sparking a massive fire that burned for 15 hours before it was extinguished Saturday. Officials said no one was killed and set their sights on the cleanup, with a dark, brown slick floating on the sea.
Government-run media said the pipeline blew up Friday evening, and the blaze raged among tanks at the port in the northern city of Dalian. More than 2,000 firefighters worked overnight to control flames that shot 100 feet into the air.
The cause of the blast was not clear. The Xinhua News Agency said it happened while a Liberian tanker was unloading oil at the port. It said the tanker left safely.
A vast stretch of polluted sea remains the next challenge. About 20 boats were trying to clean up a slick of oil and pollution covering a 20-square-mile swath off Dalian’s Xingang Harbor, Xinhua said.
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