Below, Surge Desk outlines the timeline of the world's other great oil spill. Most of the facts are from Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, unless otherwise noted.
Friday, July 16: At approximately 6:20 p.m. local time, an explosion in a pipeline near Dalian Xingang Harbor set off a secondary explosion in a smaller pipeline. The pipelines connected tankers in the harbor with storage containers on land, according to Xinhua. The pipes were owned by China National Petroleum Corp., the country's largest oil and gas producer and supplier.
Saturday, July 17: After 15 hours, firefighters extinguished the blaze.
Sunday, July 18: Oil was stopped from spilling into the sea with the closing of a valve. Officials began investigating the accident.
Monday, July 19: The oil slick was 10 centimeters thick in some places, the Chinese state television news network reported, according to BusinessWeek. Approximately 1,500 tons of oil gushed into the sea before the spill was contained, Chinese state-run radio reported.
Tuesday, July 20: Officials said they had 40 oil-skimming boats and 800 fishing vessels assisting in the cleanup efforts. Zhang Liang, a 25-year-old firefighter, drowned when he was swept away by a wave while trying to clean the motor of a boat underwater. Another firefighter was swept into the oil-caked waters and had to be rescued.
Wednesday, July 21: Chinese officials say oil is now spread across 165 square miles of water. There is still no word on what caused the explosion.
Firefighters today extinguished a fire that raged for more than 15 hours after two oil pipeline exploded at a Chinese port.
An explosion at a pipe transporting crude oil from a ship to a storage tank blew up yesterday evening, causing a blast at a second, nearby duct.
More than 2,000 firefighters and 338 engines from 14 different cities worked through the night in the north-eastern port of Dalian to put out the blaze which illuminated the sky in a strange orange glow.
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