The third attempt to seal the leaking gas well in Southwest China's Chongqing 
Municipality was launched on Thursday after the second attempt failed late on 
Wednesday. 
Experts dealing with the accident said they decided to fill a type of sticky 
gel into the leaking layer, and then seal off the well with alumina cement. 
There is one ton of the gel in stock at the site and three tons being 
transported from the neighboring Sichuan Province. 
Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, Jiang 
Jiemin, vice president of the well's owner China National Petroleum Corporation 
(CNPC), more than 50 experts, and over 800 workers are busy preparing for the 
effort. 
It is expected that the sealing will finish in the early hours of Friday 
morning and the effects will be seen in three hours. 
The second campaign to seal the Luojia No. 2 well in Gaoqiao Town of Kaixian 
County stopped on Wednesday night as the 524-meter-long drilling machine broke 
deep inside the well due to strong corrosive hydrogen sulphide, said Yang 
Qingli, a CNPC official. 
Bubbles can be seen in the river adjacent to the leaking gas well, and 
burning sites are scattered in the riverbank and nearby hills. The leak can also 
be spotted around some local households. 
The local government has warned people on the lower reaches not to drink 
water from the river. Gas workers are monitoring the river. 
The well, with a depth of some 3,400 meters, began leaking around 7 a.m. on 
Saturday during final tests which were being conducted to bring the 
recently-completed well into production. 
Some 15,000 local residents living around the leaking gas well have been 
evacuated. 
No injuries have been reported from the incident. Workers have 
been burning off poisonous gas escaping from the well to prevent it 
collecting.