Dozens of local villagers began to go back home Saturday,after authorities and technicians sealed the gas well which blew out Tuesday night in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

"We are going home today,"said a farmer from Sanxi Village,Zhenba Town,more than 10km from the gas well.

"I want to clean up my house and count my losses,because we can't smell the fumes now,"said the farmer,who did not want to be named.

He said all his seven family members were healthy,and they had been away from home for four days.

Only those living far from the villages are allowed to return home currently and villagers within five km from the gas field are still not allowed to go home,according to local rescue headquarters.

Meanwhile,260armed police have been mobilized to move human corpses to funeral homes.and clear away dead pigs,cows,birds,ducks and other animals left near the gas field.

Soldiers test water in Baihe Township.(Xinhua Photo)

The job is expected to be finished by 8:30a.m.Sunday.

After two hours of struggling to pump mud into the gas well,emergency teams and technicians finally sealed off the burst Saturday.

On Saturday,rescue workers found seven more bodies,raising the gas blowout death toll to 198in Kaixian County,some 337km northeast of Chongqing.

More than 9,000local villagers have been poisoned to different extents,while over 42,000people have been evacuated since Tuesday,when the tragedy occurred.

Over 100medical experts began to disinfect eight villages closest to the gas well,and the results of environmental tests of the air and surface water will be available within two days,local officials said.

"Health departments will test and disinfect the drinking water,vegetables and local people,"said Zhang Mingkui,director of the Kaixian County Bureau of Environmental Protection.

"The corpses of animals will be cremated,"Zhang said."Then a thorough disinfection and environmental evaluation will be conducted before villagers near the blowout site are allowed to return home."