China Explosion: Tianjin Residents Demand Compensation

According to He Shushan, vice mayor of Tianjin, as of Monday night, specialists had searched risky chemicals scattered within a radius of three kilometers around the blast site’s core area.

Stories have circulated on social media saying that less than one week after the explosions hazardous airborne chemicals might reach Taiwan, and that people should avoid going outside in the rain because it could be highly contaminated.

“They have said nothing”.

On Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency also reported that Ruihai global did not even have a proper license to handle hazardous chemicals until two months prior to the blasts.

Homeowners of the nearby Qihang residential compound on Sunday unfurled banners demanding government accountability and proper compensation for their damaged homes.

According to Gao Huaiyou, deputy director of the city’s Work Safety Administration, the warehouse served as a temporary storage facility that housed materials after they arrived at the port. Although the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, officials said hazardous chemicals stored at the warehouse were ignited.

And turning to China, the death toll from the deadly blasts that rocked the port city of Tianjin last Wednesday has now surpassed 100 with 95 people still missing.

Out of 40 water testing points, eight showed excess levels of cyanide on Monday, all within the cordoned-off area and the highest 28.4 times official standards, said Bao Jingling, chief engineer at the Tianjin environmental protection bureau.

Vanke, real estate developer of a community damaged by the blasts, said when it obtained the land in 2010, the warehouse stored ordinary goods. Sodium cyanide releases a gas that interferes with a person’s ability to breath.

A minor explosion occurred on Monday morning at the site.

Some owners of damaged residences have demanded the government buy back apartments that may no longer be habitable due to chemical contamination. “No one has noticed us yet”.

“We had to make marks to avoid getting lost”, he said. The government has sought to limit criticism of the handling of the disaster. And state-run media lambasted officials for withholding information over the explosions, largely echoing public frustrations.

A ceremony held to commemorate those who died in the explosion, August 18, Tianjin. Five days after the blast, no official explanation has been offered.

Questions also have been raised about the management of the warehouse, and prosecutors have set up a team to investigate possible offences related to the massive blasts, including dereliction of duty and abuse of power. A migrant worker named Tian Binyan said as follows.

Authorities have been criticised for failing to uphold industrial regulations, notably requirements that warehouses stocking unsafe materials be at least one kilometre from surrounding public buildings and main roads.

The comments may indicate that individuals could be held responsible for the disaster, and that central authorities are looking to portray it as an aberration rather than a systemic failure.