A company official said yesterday that the liquefied gas escaped from a heat exchanger in the No 2 ethene facility at the oil-refining and chemical department.

The company's control center immediately dialed 119 to report the accident and took urgent measures to keep the blaze from spreading.

Firefighters stationed at the company brought the fire under control within an hour, officials said.

No one was injured, and key equipment was not damaged, officials said.

A new set of ethene equipment near the source of the fire also was not affected.

The official said the accident is expected to have little effect on the company's production in the rest of the year.

(China Daily July 26, 2002)