Death toll from China blasts rises to 85

Global news agency Reuters also released the video on its website followed by other online newspapers and agencies.

More than 700 people have been treated in hospitals, with 71 still in critical condition, the state-run Xinhua news outlet said.

The blasts on Wednesday night were preceded by a fire at the warehouse, and questions have also been raised about whether the hundreds of firefighters were aware of the hazards, and whether they were trained to combat complex chemical fires.

The Foreign Affairs Minister has expressed his sympathies with the people of China after huge blasts in the city of Tianjin that claimed dozens of lives.

Xinhua reports that “the office building of Chinese supercomputer Tianhe-1, one of the world’s fastest supercomputers, suffered damage”.

Zhou said more than 1,000 firefighters and 140 fire engines have been deployed to douse the fire.

Some vehicles were “affected” by the explosion but Toyota was still trying to find out the extent of the damage and the number of vehicles involved, the company said.

The initial blaze broke out at Tianjin Dongjiang Port Ruihai worldwide Logistics warehouse, which is licensed to handle compressed gas, flammable liquid and toxic chemicals – some of which become highly explosive when mixed with water.

On Thursday chemical warfare units deployed to the site of explosions detected toxic fumes in risky concentrations up to half a kilometer from the blasts. Images on state television showed rescue workers massing around the still-smoking site in a warehouse district of Tianjin.

“We have a task force in the area to find out more and which is primarily concerned with the wellbeing of our employees”, a VW spokeswoman said.

“I’m really scared, but I don’t even know what to be scared of”.

Charlie Flanagan said, “our heartfelt sympathy as a nation goes to the families of those who were killed and all the survivors and their loved ones”.

The People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party, said the facility’s construction “clearly violated” safety rules.

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.

“The warehouse should not have passed the environment assessment under normal circumstances”, the paper quoted an unnamed environmental expert as saying.