On the 31st, officials in Chongqing City, Sichuan Province, China, reported that an explosion occurred in a tunnel in Northeast Chongqing on the afternoon of the 30th, resulting in four deaths.
According to China Central Television (CCTV) news, the Wanzhou District Transportation Committee in Chongqing issued a report concerning this fatal explosion accident on Tuesday.
At around 3:10 p.m. on Monday, a suspected combustible gas explosion occurred in the left tunnel of Tiefengshan Tunnel, section A2 of the Enshi to Guangyuan National Expressway (from Wanzhou to Kaijiang), which is invested by Chongqing Wankai Expressway Development and constructed by China Railway 12th Bureau Group. The accident resulted in one person missing and twelve people injured at the scene.
After the accident, relevant agencies quickly carried out emergency rescue and treatment. As of midnight Tuesday, the missing person had been found and confirmed dead, while three other people died after being sent to the hospital for treatment.
At present, on-site search and rescue operations have ended, the construction site in question has been sealed off, follow-up work is underway, and an investigation into the accident has also begun.
Tiefengshan Tunnel is located between Gaoliang Town in Wanzhou District and Nanmen Town in Kaizhou District, Chongqing. It is the longest municipal mountain tunnel in China and is also the most challenging and controlling project in the entire Chongqing section (G5012 Enshi to Guangyuan National Expressway) of the Wankai Expressway.