Huge blasts kill 50, injures 700 in Chinese city
TIANJIN, China: Two huge explosions tore through an industrial area where toxic chemicals and gas were stored in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, killing at least 50 people, including at least a dozen firefighters.
At least 700 people were injured, more than 71 seriously, the Tianjin government said, and the official Xinhua news agency said two fires were still burning.
The blasts, so large that they were seen by satellites in space, sent shockwaves through blocks of flats kilometres away in the city of 15 million people. Internet videos showed fireballs shooting into the sky and the US Geological Survey registered the blasts as seismic events.
Vast areas of the port – the 10th largest in the world – were devastated, crumpled shipping containers were thrown around like match sticks, hundreds of new cars were torched and port buildings left as burnt-out shells.
“I was sleeping when our windows and doors suddenly shook as we heard explosions outside. I first thought it was an earthquake,” said Guan Xiang, who lives 7km away from the explosion site. Guan, 24, said he saw flames and a mushroom cloud in the sky as he and other residents scrambled to get out of the building.
Tianjin authorities said 12 firefighters were among the dead. The cause of the blasts was being investigated, but Xinhua said several containers caught fire beforehand.
The state-run Beijing News earlier cited fire authorities as saying they had lost contact with 36 firefighters. By late afternoon, Xinhua reported 18 were missing, while 66 were among the hundreds being treated in nearby hospitals.
Xinhua said 1 000 firefighters and more than 140 fire engines were struggling to contain a blaze in a warehouse that held “dangerous goods”.
People had been hurt by broken glass and other debris. Authorities expected the blasts to have forced 6 000 people from their homes by nightfall.
At least 50 people were killed and more than 700 injured when two huge explosions tore through an industrial area where toxic chemicals and gas were stored in the north-east Chinese port city of Tianjin. This is what remained of hundreds of new cars waiting to be shipped out.