Local authorities in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, held its third press conference on November 25, 2018 in the wake of a dangerous toxic chemical leak, finally admitting that the actual amount of the leaked carbon-9, a polluting and potentially harmful fuel oil, was 69.1 tons, almost 10 times the amount initially reported by the petrochemical company.
According to the investigation, the accident which happened on November 4 was caused by dock workers who manually connected a pipe to the transport ship using ropes, which was against the rules. As the ship settled lower in the water as its cargo was loaded, the drag of the ropes split the pipe.
The petrochemical company then lied to investigators about the cause of the broken pipe and attempted to cover up the actual amount of chemicals leaked by altering the loading records. Seven employees from the petrochemical company and the ship have been detained so far, and six local officials have been fired or suspended.
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