By The Associated Press - July 12, 2009
URUMQI, China (Kyodo) — An oil tank exploded at a chemical plant in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's restive Xinjiang region, on Sunday morning, the official Xinhua News Agency reported quoting firefighters.
No casualties have been reported so far and the cause is being investigated, the report said.
 In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, firefighters spray water to a blasted oil tank in a chemical plant in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sunday morning, July 12, 2009. The fire triggered by the blast was extinguished at 10:30 a.m. and no casualties were reported, Xinhua said. It is not clear if the explosion is connected to the ethnic violence that has rocked the city. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Jin Jian) |
The explosion occurred around 10 a.m. at a refinery of China National Petroleum Corp. in northern Urumqi, Xinhua quoted city firefighters as saying.
It comes one week after a riot in Urumqi left 184 people dead.
