Reported explosion in Chinese City of Tianjin caught on camera

Seconds after the explosion, a giant shockwave tore through nearby buildings, smashing windows and blasting debris onto the streets. Chinese state media reported that seven people were killed in the blasts and hundreds are injured.

“I thought it was an quake, so I rushed downstairs without my shoes on”, Tianjin resident Zhang Siyu, whose home is several kilometers from the blast site, said in a telephone interview.

Eye witnessed video shows a fireball briefly lighting up the early morning sky over surrounding skyscrapers before another blast sends shocked spectators almost falling to the floor.

Ms Zhang said she could see wounded people crying, and added: “I could feel death”. “Shockwaves from the blast could apparently be felt several kilometres away from Tianjin”, the BBC reports. At least six firefighters were among the injured and two were reported missing, the newspaper reported on Twitter.

“It was like what we were told a nuclear bomb would be like”, said truck driver Zhao Zhencheng, who spent the night in the cab of his truck. “It was terrifying but also lovely”.

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

Tianjin is a major port city southeast of Beijing in the country’s north.

It is one of only four cities in China – along with Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing – to have the status of a province.