Villagers wait to return home after deadly leak plugged

DUNHAO, China -- Sitting in their temporary shelter in a government office, Xiong Qimei hugged her two sons and waited anxiously Saturday for word that they could return to their village after crews sealed a gas well in China's southwest that spewed toxic fumes and killed at least 198 people.

Xiong's family was among 41,000 people forced to flee their homes by the disaster that left villages strewn with the bodies of adults and children.

"I'm lucky I wasn't injured," said Xiong, 33, whose family shares a crowded family planning center with hundreds of evacuees. "But I miss my home. I feel like I've lost everything."

Hundreds of police and soldiers continued searching the area Saturday for survivors and more bodies, the government said.

Scientists, meanwhile, were measuring toxins in water and on plants after crews plugged the well with tons of sealant, the government said. But it said people who lived within three miles of the gas field in the town of Gaoqiao, northeast of the major city of Chongqing, weren't allowed to return yet.

Investigating cause

Emergency crews spent two hours pouring sealant down the well but didn't give any other details of the operation Saturday, the government said. Earlier reports said technicians were using earth-moving vehicles. Newspaper photos showed them wearing respirators and silvery, head-to-toe protective suits.

While officials have said that light rains forecast over the next three days should help clear away the poison, the official Xinhua News Agency, citing unidentified experts, warned it could also make ground pollution worse.

There didn't appear to be any danger of a new blowout, Xinhua said, citing an industry expert.

China's Cabinet appointed a team of investigators led by the chief of the national industrial safety agency to find the cause and who was responsible.

Earlier reports said a drilling mishap broke open the well at the Chuangdongbei gas field.

The disaster was huge even by the standards of Chinese industry, which suffers thousands of deaths a year in coal mine explosions and other accidents.

"It was an accident of rare severity," Xinhua quoted a spokesman for the safety agency, Huang Yi, as saying. "We must learn a lesson from it."

According to government figures, China's gas drilling industry is comparatively safe. Two gas blowouts since 1992 have killed a total of 17 people.

Xinhua reported Saturday that one member of the paramilitary People's Armed Police, Lt. Liao Yiquan, discovered the bodies of his uncle, aunt and niece. Later, Liao came across his father, who was blinded by the gas. His mother was still missing.

In Dunhao, northwest of Gaoqiao, evacuees at the family planning center sat outdoors around coal-fueled fires. Dogs and chickens wandered the grounds, dodging trucks arriving with blankets and food.

One room was a sea of straw and mattresses, where families gathered to sleep or keep warm under donated quilts.

Wu Yixiu, 56, said she walked for almost four hours out of a hilly area with her husband and infant grandson to escape.

"We were awakened by a noise that grew louder and louder. It smelled like manure," said Wu. "I could not breathe. I could not see because of the tears in my eyes. I was holding my husband's hand so he could lead me."