Body of last missing person found at blast site

Rescuers found the body of the last missing person in the Qingdao pipeline explosion on Nov 22, raising the death toll to 62.

The body was found on Monday, the city government said on its micro blog before dawn on Tuesday.

According to initial reports after the blast, 55 people died and nine people were missing, but police said DNA tests had shown that two confirmed victims had also been listed as missing. The other missing victims were later found dead.

The blast ripped through several residential and commercial roads in Huangdao district at 10:30 am on Nov 22 as workers were repairing a leak in an oil pipeline.

The leak began at about 3 am and the pipeline was shut down 15 minutes later. Authorities said the explosion happened after crude oil got into the city’s network of oil pipes.

A list of the victims’ names was made public on Tuesday afternoon and included seven women. Twenty-six victims were from Qingdao, a coastal city in Shandong province. No other details were released.

The Qingdao health bureau said 14 of the 136 people who were hospitalized had been discharged as of 3 pm. No one has died after receiving treatment in hospitals.

According to the bureau, six of the injured still face life-threatening conditions, while 25 are in critical condition.

The bureau said hospitals have been notified to begin rehabilitative treatment for the injured. The hospitals have been asked to send specialists to assess the injured who need early rehabilitation, the bureau said.

Six State-level medical experts and one provincial-level expert arrived in Qingdao on Monday to assist in the victims’ care, the bureau said.

As of Monday, all students from schools located in or near the explosion have resumed classes, according to authorities.