Beijing: At least 17 people have been killed and over 400 injured, 32 of them seriously, in twin blasts reportedly caused by combustible and explosive goods stored in containers at a warehouse in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, state media reported today.
The blasts ripped through the Ruihai warehouse, which stores dangerous goods, at 11.20 PM local time yesterday, following a fire report half an hour earlier. Fireballs erupted then ignited more explosions in companies nearby, according to rescuers, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The massive blasts were caused by combustible and explosive goods stored in containers at the warehouse, official People’s Daily online reported.
Chemicals at a container terminal exploded in Binhai New Area in Tianjin. Official television CCTV showed footage of massive explosions in the city. More than 10,000 people were reportedly evacuated from the nearby areas. It said 17 people were killed and over 400 injured in the incident. The condition of 32 of them was stated to be serious. In the video, huge mushroom cloud and fire can be seen far off. Fire still raging at the place of explosions with huge smoke billowing out.
The TV report said the fire still yet to be contained as firefighters can not use water to put it out due to presence of chemicals and instead has to use sand and other materials to contain it. Xinhua also reported two firefighters were “out of contact” and another four injured during the rescue. There are people trapped inside the blast site and rescue operation is still going on. The injured have been sent to several hospitals nearby.
Xinhua reporters saw blood everywhere on the floors of hospitals. Lu Yun, head of Taida Hospital, which has admitted some 150 injured people, told Xinhua that the injuries were mostly from broken glass or stones. The shockwaves were felt kilometres away, with window glass of buildings shattered. The rolling doors and window glass of Donghai Road terminal station of Jinbin light railway, which serves as a major link between the Binhai New Area and the downtown Tianjin, were broken. Its roof also partially collapsed.
Minor fires and blasts could still be seen from a far distance early today. As soon as the explosion was under control, some taxi drivers and private car owners have voluntarily helped with sending the wounded to hospitals. Some hotels have provided free accommodation to residents displaced by the blast. It is reported that the tremors of the twin explosions can be felt 10 kms away. While the footage of the explosions went viral on the Chinese social media, eye witnesses accounts described the blasts as similar to nuclear blasts.
Xinhua quoted Du Wenjun, a resident in north China’s Tianjin Municipality as saying that never imaged that he could see a “mushroom cloud” outside the window of his own home. He lived several kilometers away from Du’s dwelling, leaving at least 17 people dead and more than 400 injured. When the blast occurred, Du felt strong jolts and saw a huge column of smoke not far away. A video clip of a witness showed that the heavy smoke dispersed high in the sky, shortly after fires raged with loud bangs.
Zhao Lirong, a 35-year-old businesswoman from Inner Mongolia, was sleeping when the blast blew off the windows and doors in her apartment, hitting her head, her son’s neck and her husband’s feet. A dozen family members living in the apartment were wounded. But all of them run out of the building and walked to the Teda hospital nearby. People rushed into the streets with pajamas, some worrying that an earthquake would happen. There was a heavy traffic congestion of over hundreds of meters at 1 AM local time on the street near the warehouse, according to Lu Qing, a witness driving by. According to the official Weibo account of the Ministry of Public Security, the Tianjin fire bureau received the first report of the fire at 22:50 PM local time yesterday. Nine fire brigades and three specialty teams were dispatched to the spot, followed by another nine brigades and 35 fire trucks an hour later.
