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7 people killed in massive Tianjin explosion
Posted On Aug 13 2015
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Worker dormitories in Tianjin’s port area were reduced to twisted wreckage and injured migrants packed emergency rooms on Thursday, as the migrant underclass of China’s economic boom bore the brunt of a series of giant blasts. The initial blast triggered secondary explosions, causing local tremors, Xinhua said.
The fire is mostly under control, and the Tianjin local government says further efforts to put out flames have been suspended on orders of the central government so that a team of chemical experts can assess hazardous materials on site, dangers to the environment and how best to proceed.
“Now all the residents are gathered in the street”. It had reported earlier that most of the injuries were from stones or broken glass. Quake felt 10 km away.
“I… looked out the window and the sky was red…. I was afraid my family was in danger”. “But mum was hurt badly, she couldn’t open her eyes”.
The magnitude of the first explosion was the equivalent of detonating three tonnes of TNT, the China natural disaster Networks Centre said on its verified Weibo account, and was followed by a second stronger blast equal to detonating 21 tonnes of the explosive. It is not immediately clear how many casualties there are in the blast.
Authorities had lost contact with 36 firefighters on the scene, the official Beijing News newspaper reported, citing the Tianjin fire department. A pungent smell permeated the surrounding area. Worker dormitories, built of flimsy sheets of thin metal, were torn apart by the blast. There are people trapped inside the blast site and rescue operation is still going on. “Only once I was outside did I realise it was an explosion”. “I’ve never even thought I’d see such a thing”. Ltd., the company that owns the warehouses. There’s no formal word yet on how many people have been killed.
Smoke rises over Tianjin Port after explosions hit the Binhai new district in Tianjin August 13, 2015. It is one of China’s more modern cities and is connected to the capital by a high speed rail line.
