No casualties were reported from a fire that broke out at a
construction site in downtown Shanghai on Wednesday morning, the
government and witnesses said.
The site, located in Huangpu District in the city center, caught
fire at around 9:30 a.m., after construction workers unknowingly
damaged an underground gas pipe.
A subsequent gas spill triggered the fire that lasted for nearly
an hour and brought traffic in the area to a standstill.
The local government said firemen capped the gas leak within an
hour and traffic flow resumed by 11 a.m.
An investigation into the fire was underway.
The site of the accident, at the intersection between Renmin
Avenue and Lishui Road, was along a planned tunnel linking with the
Shanghai World Expo facilities located on both banks of the Huangpu
River.
Shanghai has stepped up its infrastructure construction in the
run-up to the six-month expo that starts in May 2010.
(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2008)
