The investigation team of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) headed by State Councilor Hua Jianmin arrived at the blowout spot of the Chuandongbei gas field, around 7:10 pm Thursday.  

The team had no sooner gone to the blowout spot and started the investigation than arrived at Kaixian County, 337 km to the northeast of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

The blowout took place at 10:00 pm Tuesday at Chuandongbei gas field in Kaixian County, when a well burst suddenly and released a high concentration of natural gas and sulfurated hydrogen.

The death toll of the blowout amounted to 191 by 6:40 pm Thursday, according to local government sources.

Chinese leaders Thursday called for unreserved efforts in searching and rescuing victims of the blowout.

President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Huang Ju said in their instructions on Thursday that relevant departments should go all out to rescue victims, prevent poisonous gas from spreading further and reduce casualty.

The leaders also called for effective efforts in evacuating local residents and making proper arrangements for their life.

A senior SAWS official on Thursday urged the local authorities to properly handle problems from the deadly gas burst.

The SAWS official said that the cause of the accident is under investigation as a work team arrived at the blowout spot of the Chuandongbei gas field Thursday.

He said localities across the country should upgrade their supervision and inspection on the safety of the production, management and storage of toxic products as the new year draws near.

Some 31,000 local people living in the mountainous area around the gas field had been evacuated from their villages since Tuesday night amid the spread of natural gas and sulphurated hydrogen, local officials said.

Local officials feared the death toll might rise further as 20 special teams dispatched to the villages by the local authorities continue searching for survivors and identifying casualties.

Sulphurated hydrogen is a kind of toxic gas that will leave people seriously poisoned or even dead with an inhalation of 760 to 1,000 milligrams per cubic meter.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2003)