14 jailed over China pipeline blast

Published Nov 30, 2015

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Beijing - China sentenced 14 people to jail on Monday over a deadly oil pipeline explosion that killed 63 people two years ago.

The blasts from a pipeline in the eastern Chinese port of Qingdao in November 22, 2013 injured over 150 others, the official Xinhua news agency cited the People’s Court of Huangdao District as saying.

The defendants were given jail terms of between three and five years.

A previous report from China’s State Council found drilling work by maintenance staff had produced sparks that led to an explosion.

The pipeline was owned by a subsidiary of state oil giant Sinopec and ran from Qingdao’s Huangdao oil depot to the nearby port city of Weifang.

Eight oil company employees were sentenced to between three and five years in prison for violating work safety rules, and six local government officials were sentenced to between three and three and a half years for dereliction of duty.

DPA

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