Large Oil Spill Reported in China

SHANGHAI

The government has not explained why the report of the spill was not released until late Saturday. But Xinhua, the official state news agency, said the leak was caused by construction work and that a crew of 700 people was struggling to contain the damage from what Shaanxi officials said was about 150,000 liters, or about 40,000 gallons, of diesel oil.

The damaged pipeline belongs to the China National Petroleum Corporation, one of the country