CHONGQING, China, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The official death toll from a natural gas leak in southwestern China has risen to 233, after 35 more bodies were found in remote mountain villages.
But residents of Xiaoyang, a village about half a mile from the well, claimed the death toll was higher. They told the South China Morning Post some 300 people were dead or missing from their village alone.
Survivors, who had been housed in schools and temporary shelters since the accident occurred Tuesday night, began to return home over the weekend. About 42,000 people were evacuated from a 10-square-mile area in Kaixian County near Chongqing, where the accident occurred.
Many farmers returned home to find their animals dead and crops poisoned. They were promised compensation by China National Petroleum, which owns the gas field.
Workers poured mud and cement into the Sunday to block the fumes of natural gas and sulphurated hydrogen spewing into the air. The leak was reportedly caused by a drilling accident.
Survivors complained of the slow response to the emergency, as rescue workers didn't arrive until Thursday morning, 30 hours after the accident.
