Medical team sent to oil pipe blast areas

BEIJING - A team of medical specialists has been sent to the oil pipeline explosion area in the coastal city of Qingdao in East China's Shandong province, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The team, comprised of six experts on burn treatment, critical care medicine, orthopedics and respiration, departed for Qingdao on Friday night.

Li Bin, head of the commission, also urged full efforts to help local rescue work.

On Saturday morning, local authorities increased the death toll from 35 to 47, with another 136 injured people hospitalized.

The blast occurred at 10:30 am on Friday in the Huangdao District of Qingdao after oil leaked from a Sinopec pipeline into the municipal pipe network, an initial investigation showed.