The death toll from an explosion at an oil tank in China that was being built as part of an energy project with Kazakhstan has risen to 12, state media reported on Monday.
The tank, at a plant of the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, blew up in the north-west Xinjiang region on Saturday as 24 workers were painting anti-corrosive material on it, the China Daily reported.
The blast in the city of Karamay may have been triggered by a chemical reaction from organic materials in the paint, the report said, quoting the deputy director with the local government work safety bureau.
The oil tank was part of a 10-million-ton oil refining project initiated by the state oil giant last year, and was a component of an energy co-operation project between China and Kazakhstan that was slated for completion in 2008.
Upon completion, the 100,000-cubic-meter (3.5-million cubic feet) tank would have been used to store crude oil imported via a pipeline from Kazakhstan, the report said.
Local authorities said the blast would not affect the normal operation of the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline and have ruled out the possibility of a second explosion or serious environmental damage, the report said.