Society

Methane leak kills 2 at Shenzhen subway construction site

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-08 20:01

SHENZHEN -- Methane leaking from sewage pipes killed two workers and injured four others Sunday at a subway construction site in southern Chinese city of Shenzhen where a rush to meet the construction deadline was suspected to have caused previous accidents.

Four injured were hospitalized and they no longer face life-threatening danger, said sources of the construction company Shenzhen Water Project Engineering Co., Ltd. The accident occurred Sunday morning at Daxin station on the subway's extension line under construction.

Authorities are still probing the case.

Construction accidents repeatedly occurred at Shenzhen subway line as the deadline for project completion -- by June this year -- is near. One worker was killed while four were injured in accidents since March.

But the municipal government has brushed off the public's suspicion that "a rush to completion" was the cause behind the fatal accidents. It said in April that the planed construction period for the subway, which is four and half years, is not short compared with other similar projects.