BEIJING (AP) China's president on Sunday visited hospitalized victims of deadly explosions that ripped through residential and commercial roads from a ruptured pipeline owned by the country's largest oil refiner.
The official death toll from the blasts rose to 52 earlier in the day after rescuers found more bodies in the aftermath of Friday's industrial accident in eastern China. Eleven people were still missing, according to the information office of the government of the port city of Qingdao.
Rescue efforts were continuing, the information office said. It said earlier that 136 people had been injured, 10 of whom were in critical condition.
The accident was the deadliest involving state-owned company Sinopec.
State broadcaster CCTV showed President Xi Jinping visiting a hospital in Qingdao. He spoke with and held the hand of an elderly patient, and talked and patted the arm of another. He also told a group of doctors and nurses to put all their efforts into helping the injured.