A woman runs away after an explosion on a pipeline in the coastal city of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, Nov 22, 2013. [Photo/icpress.cn]

QINGDAO -- A leaky pipeline caught fire and exploded on Friday morning in the coastal city of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, leaving 22 dead and 7 severely injured, local authorities confirmed on its verified official microblog.

A fire broke out and the blast occurred around 10 am in the Huangdao district when workers were repairing a petroleum pipeline which broke and resulted in an oil leakage around 3 am, according to the official microblog service of the Qingdao government's publicity office.

The pipeline is owned by Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner.

Witnesses said more than 20 fire engines have rushed to the site.