TIANJIN, China: Huge, fiery blasts at a warehouse for hazardous chemicals killed at least 50 people, including at least a dozen fire fighters, and turned nearby buildings into skeletal shells in the Chinese port of Tianjin, officials and state media said yesterday.
More than 700 people were injured and dozens were reported missing in the explosions shortly before midnight on Wednesday that demolished a workers’ dormitory, tossed shipping containers as if they were toy blocks and turned a fleet of 1,000 new cars into scorched metal husks.
Vast areas of the port were devastated, witnesses said. The blasts were so large that they were seen by satellites in space. Tianjin authorities said 12 firefighters were among the 44 killed. The blaze was brought “under initial control” after 1,000 firefighters and 143 fire engines had been deployed to the site.
A Chinese military team of nuclear and chemical experts began work at the site. The 217-strong group of military specialists tested the air around the site for toxic gases. Rescue teams were attempting to remove 700 tonnes of deadly sodium cyanide from the area.
There was no indication of what caused the disaster. Ships carrying oil and “hazardous products” were barred from the port yesterday. Authorities said the blasts started at the warehouse owned by Ruihai Logistics, a company that says it stores hazardous materials including flammable petrochemicals, sodium cyanide and toluene diisocyanate.
President Xi Jinping demanded that authorities “make full effort to rescue and treat the injured and ensure the safety of people and their property”. Xi said those responsible should be “severely handled”.
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