China Tianjin port explosion: At least 17 killed, more than 300 injured

The explosion in Tianjin erupted at a container port where flammable material was being stored in containers, reported CCTV, China’s state-owned broadcaster.

The blast ripped through the Ruihai warehouse, which stores risky goods, at 11.20 p.m. Wednesday, following a fire report half an hour earlier, Xinhua news agency reported.

As China wakes up to news of the blasts, this live blog will have the latest updates as more information comes through.

Ms Zhang said she could see wounded people crying, and added: “I could feel death”.

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.

The state-run Beijing News said that between 300 and 400 people had been admitted to hospitals in the city, east of Beijing.

Two firefighters called to the scene were missing, Xinhua reported, as 10 emergency teams and 35 fire trucks battled the blaze.

“I … looked out the window and the sky was red …”

The Tianjin municipality said more than 1,000 firefighters were sent to fight the ensuing fire, which was mostly under control by morning.

Photos apparently taken by bystanders and circulating online on microblogs show a very big fireball high in the sky, with a mushroom-cloud.

“It’s lucky no one had moved in”, said a worker on the site, Liu Junwei, 29. “Two years hard work down the drain”. Photographs posted on Chinese social media websites showed injured residents streaming out of apartment complexes and sleeping on the streets, while parked cars near the port were left completely incinerated.

Tianjin port is a major site of the petrochemical industry in northern China.