Like the scene of a 'Hollywood movie'

The view above an oil spill in the Yellow Sea on Saturday. An oil pipeline explosion in the coastal city of Dalian on Friday had created a leak that has been spewing into the sea. [Xinhua]

Xingang Harbor's Chen Zhigang said he was walking in the harbor's playground when he heard "a horrible blast" on Friday evening.

"I thought it was an earthquake," he said. He spotted smoke billowing 200 meters away from where he stood and heard the roar of the fire.

Chen and his teammates reported the fire and helped evacuate ships. All four foreign vessels including the Liberian tanker left the site safely, he said.

Chen said the first fire truck arrived at the site three minutes after they reported the blaze. Huge clouds of smoke hung over the harbor on Saturday night, he said.

Wang Wei, 22, said he was having dinner when he and his fellow firefighters were mustered. They arrived at the site of the fire before 7:00 PM. Wang said his right leg was burned badly in the blaze but he stuck to his post throughout the night.

Another fireman, Xiao Gao, described the site of the explosion as a "roaring inferno with flames of about 20 meters high".

"It was like the scene of a Hollywood movie," he said. "If you were there, you would not have been sure of getting out alive."

(China Daily July 19, 2010)