Oil tank explodes in Xinjiang, attack ruled out
(Adds police comment)
BEIJING, July 12 (Reuters) - An oil tank blew up at a chemical plant in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, on Sunday morning, but local police ruled out a deliberate attack.
"It was a natural explosion," said an officer at the Urumqi police station, declining to give his name.
The fire at the 10,000 cubic meter storage tank has already been extinguished, said an official who answered the phone at the Urumqi fire department.
No casualties have been reported.
The Xinhua news agency released the news only on its English language service without giving an explanation for the blast, which comes a week after ethnic rioting in Urumqi left 184 people dead.
The tank belonged to Urumqi Chemical Co, a unit of China National Petroleum Co, parent of PetroChina (PTR.N) (0857.HK)(601857.SS).
(Reporting by Lucy Hornby)
BEIJING, July 12 (Reuters) - An oil tank blew up at a chemical plant in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, on Sunday morning, but local police ruled out a deliberate attack.
"It was a natural explosion," said an officer at the Urumqi police station, declining to give his name.
The fire at the 10,000 cubic meter storage tank has already been extinguished, said an official who answered the phone at the Urumqi fire department.
No casualties have been reported.
The Xinhua news agency released the news only on its English language service without giving an explanation for the blast, which comes a week after ethnic rioting in Urumqi left 184 people dead.
The tank belonged to Urumqi Chemical Co, a unit of China National Petroleum Co, parent of PetroChina (PTR.N) (0857.HK)(601857.SS).
(Reporting by Lucy Hornby)
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