Liao Yong was about to go to bed when he was shocked by a blast from a natural gas field only hundreds of meters away from his home.

Though having noticed a terrible smell, he did not start running with his family until hearing the shouting "Run away! The gas well blew out!"

Not all of Liao's fellow villagers were so lucky. Many of were killed by toxic sulfurated hydrogen gas while they slept.

The tragedy took place at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday at a natural gas field in Kaixian county, operated by the China National Petroleum Corporation. A well burst suddenly and released a high concentration of natural gas and sulfurated hydrogen. The natural gas field is 337 kilometers northeast of Chongqing Municipality.

The blowout that so far has killed 191 people was described by a work safety official as "unprecedented."

Huang Yi, a spokesman with the State Administration of Work Safety, said in an exclusive interview Friday that the accident in Kaixian county indicated the need for the establishment of an effective mechanism of workplace accident alert and emergency rescue operation.

With such a mechanism, Huang said, the death toll would not have been so high.

Over 80 per cent of those killed by the toxic gas were from the village of Liao-- Xiaoyang village in Gaoqiao township.

Also killed were dogs, ducks, rabbits and other domestic animals. Even fish did not escape.

The serious accident has drawn concern from top state leaders.

President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao both urged an effective rescue operation after receiving the accident report.

An emergency team headed by Hua Jianmin, State Councilor and secretary-general of the State Council, is overseeing rescue work in Kaixian. The team arrived at the county at 1:15 a.m. Friday.

Over 1,500 police, firemen and soldiers joined the rescue operation Friday morning, searching for survivors over an area of about 80 square kilometers.

The blowout affected four townships with a population of 93,000 near the gas field.

Eight of the 65 poisoned people evacuated Wednesday by rescuers died and Thursday morning a baby died on the way to hospital.

The death toll sharply rose to 191 Thursday evening when more bodies were found by rescuers.

Of the 182 people found dead Thursday, only two were workers at the gas field while all the rest were local villagers, according to sources with the Chongqing public security bureau.

Wu Jianong, Vice Mayor of Chongqing, said that poor transport and communications facilities hampered evacuation efforts, which resulted in such a high casualty list.

"Only after we reduced the gas density by setting alight the toxic sulfurated hydrogen Wednesday afternoon could we organize rescue workers to enter the scene," he said.

So far, 4,000 local people have participated in the rescue operation. Fourteen camps accommodating 23,383 people were established, while over 18,000 people were evacuated to homes in non-affected areas.

According to local statistics, 9,185 people have received medical treatment since the rescue operation began. Currently 431 people are hospitalized, with 17 in serious condition and 84 people have so far been discharged from hospital.

Many victims of the deadly gas blowout were displaying obvious signs of poisoning, said doctors of local hospitals.

The victims suffered mainly from acid burns on their skin and through the respiratory system, which was particularly difficult to treat and could lead to lung hydropsy and death due to collapse of the respiratory system, said Doctor Li Hongjun at Kaixian People's Hospital.

A reserve medical team including respiratory disease and burn treatment experts has been organized by the Ministry of Health in Beijing and is ready to head for the accident county to provide assistance.

Also, relief materials including rice, biscuits, instant noodles, tents, quilts and cotton-padded overcoats were sent to victims.

The capping operation, originally planned for Friday morning, was delayed to Saturday to allow more time for rescue operations around the accident site.

According to experts at the rescue site, the concentration of the toxic gas is dropping.

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