Three arrested over China gas leak

Officers investigating a gas well leak which killed 243 people in western China have arrested three oil company workers on suspicion of dismantling safety features and mishandling drilling equipment, police said today.

The arrests come amid a sweeping investigation into one of China’s worst industrial accidents, part of attempts by the country’s communist leaders to make their government more responsive and promote public safety.

Authorities have pledged to harshly punish those responsible for the accident on December 23.

Already, the investigation has forced the resignation of a vice president of state owned China National Petroleum Corporation.

Two of those arrested, well technicians Wang Jiandong and Song Tao, are accused of removing the back pressure regulator inside the drill, which rules strictly forbid.

Drill technician Xiang Yiming allegedly injected less than the required amount of drilling fluid into the drilling tools, leading to the build up of gas that eventually spewed from the well, Wen Qiang, deputy chief of police in the Chongqing region, where the blowout occurred, said.

A special panel set up to look into the causes of the leak, found the accident occurred after safety regulations were violated.

It was not clear what charges or penalties the three might face.

The accident sent a deadly cloud of poisonous hydrogen sulphide over nearby villages in a poor, mountainous area. Villagers died in their sleep or were struck down while trying to flee.

More than 9,000 people were treated for injuries and 60,000 forced to evacuate the area.

Hospitals last week reported 396 were still being treated for injuries, several of them in critical condition.