Oil pipe blast in east China kills 6

A Chinese police officer is framed by the glass window of a vehicle damaged by explosions outside the provincial headquarters of China’s ruling Communist Party in Taiyuan in north China’s Shanxi province Wednesday Nov. 6, 2013. The Shanxi provincial government and police said the blasts which killed one and injured eight struck at about 7:40 a.m. (2340 GMT Tuesday). AP

BEIJING—Local authorities say an oil pipe explosion in an eastern Chinese city has killed six and severely injured seven others.

The district government of Huangdao in the seaside port of Qingdao said an oil pipe near a shopping mall broke Friday morning and that the rupture caught fire during repairs. It says the incident remains under investigation.

Authorities assured the public that the blast was well away from any petrochemical plants of military facilities.

Photos posted online and in social media show huge black smoke and shattered concrete slabs.

The pipeline is owned by China’s largest oil refiner, Sinopec. Calls to Sinopec’s headquarters in Beijing were not immediately answered Friday.