No matter where we end up in China, or out, the first port of call any laowai makes in this country surely stays near and dear. Such is Dalian for me. I lived in Dalian for my first 18 months in China and return at least once a year to visit inlaws and friends.

The city is constantly touted as a clean and beautiful city, so, to see it suffering through one of the country’s worst oil spill disasters sucks. To catch anyone up who hasn’t caught this on the news, two crude oil pipelines exploded in Dalian’s Xingang port last Friday. The fire took 15 hours and thousands of firefighters to quell, but over the following few days has caused an oil slick that extends more than 180-square kilometers off the coast — stopping it from reaching the open sea is a top priority.

Boston.com has collected a number of striking photos chronicling the event in vivid detail. Many of the photos were captured by Greenpeace activists on the scene to assess the damage. Photos after the jump..

No matter where we end up in China, or out, the first port of call any laowai makes in this country surely stays near and dear. Such is Dalian for me. I lived in Dalian for my first 18 months in China and return at least once a year to visit inlaws and friends.

The city is constantly touted as a clean and beautiful city, so, to see it suffering through one of the country’s worst oil spill disasters sucks. To catch anyone up who hasn’t caught this on the news, two crude oil pipelines exploded in Dalian’s Xingang port last Friday. The fire took 15 hours and thousands of firefighters to quell, but over the following few days has caused an oil slick that extends more than 180-square kilometers off the coast — stopping it from reaching the open sea is a top priority.

Boston.com has collected a number of striking photos chronicling the event in vivid detail. Many of the photos were captured by Greenpeace activists on the scene to assess the damage. Here are some of the more amazing. Be sure to check out the full article for a number more.

Firefighters walk toward flames towering from a pipeline explosion at a Chinese port of Dalian on Saturday, July 17, 2010. (AP Photo)
Firefighters try to contain the flames from a pipeline explosion in Dalian, China on Saturday, July 17, 2010. (AP Photo)
An aerial photo, released by China's Xinhua news agency on July 17, 2010, shows an oil slick floating off the coast of Dalian, China. Efforts were under way to contain and clean up a large oil slick after pipeline explosions at the northeastern Chinese port sent greasy black plumes into the ocean, state media reported. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Tian Jingyue)
A Greenpeace activist surveys the damage of the oil spill at Dalian's port on July 21, 2010. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace)
Workers attempt to rescue a firefighter from drowning in the oil slick during the oil spill clean-up operations at Dalian's Port on July 20, 2010. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace)
A firefighter who was submerged in thick oil during an attempt to fix an underwater pump is brought ashore by his colleagues in Dalian, China on Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Jiang He, Greenpeace)

Also check out this Flickr stream for more photos from Greenpeace.

(h/t HHR)

Discussion

4
  1. The picture of firefighter who is saved by other workers is “horrible”. How come that he is doing these works without special clothes? I even dare to say that in spite of being saved, he might develop some nasty diseases for his all future life because of swimming in the oil…

    • That’s true, Crystal, he should have worn special clothing–but it’s possible that he might not have had time. In such a disaster, sometimes there are on-the-spot emergencies and people suddenly have to spring into action, regardless of personal danger. Or he may just be reckless; I’m curious but I can’t find anything else about this guy online. He might be a hero or just foolhardy. He will more than likely have some sort of lymphal lung disorder or something else awful that will shorten his lifespan.

  2. this is china and safety is not an issue here and besides people don’t know how dangerous it is to inhale the chemicals or let it touch their skin.

    some reports say he didn’t survived (but i am a foreigner here and my chinese is not so good)

    • I believe there were two people in the situation — one was pulled out quickly and survived, another was pulled out much later and died.

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