Three are jailed over gas station explosion

By Xu Fang  |   2008-7-16  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

Three men directly responsible for a massive explosion late last year that resulted in four fatalities and 30 injuries in a Pudong gas station were jailed yesterday.

All pleaded guilty and told Pudong New Area People's Court that their ignorance of production-safety rules was the cause of the accident.

Hu Jianjun, the welder who was working on the pressure pipe in the gas station and directly caused the blast, received the heaviest sentence of 4 1/2 years. He told the court he knew nothing about the safety rules of welding pressure pipes or the special equipment needed. He had not received any training.

The other two men, Hu Guozhi and Tian Changwu were imprisoned for 4 years and 3 1/2 years.

Hu Guozhi was the legal representative of Shanghai Weixi Construction and Installation Engineering Co Ltd that employed Hu Jianjun.

Tian was the former general manager of Shanghai Pacific Gas Co Ltd that allowed the unqualified Weixi group to take the project.

On November 24, 2007, at 7:50am, a huge blast occurred at the PetroChina Co Ltd gas station on Pusan Road, near Yanggao Road S. Two workers and two passers-by were killed instantly. Nearby buildings suffered severe damage and the direct economic loss exceeded 8 million yuan (US$1.68 million).

An investigation by the Shanghai Safety Production Administration found that the gas station was undergoing repair work at the time. Repairmen pressurized a gas pipe without separating the storage tank connected to it.

Some oil and gas remained in the tank because it had not been cleaned. When the pressurized air mixed with the liquefied petroleum gas in the tank, an explosion was inevitable.

Hu Jianjun, 32, a Jiangsu Province native, was welding the pressure pipe, which started the fire causing the fatal explosion.

Weixi was granted the work contract by Tian despite not being qualified to install pressure pipes.