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The rugged firefighters have emerged as the new soldiers to fight deadly industrial fires in China in the last two decades as the country ramped up manufacturing.

The firefighters initially sent to the scene were “investigating and testing” the area and their reinforcements were arriving when the first blast hit “all of a sudden”, Zhou Tian, head of the Tianjin firefighting bureau, told a briefing Friday.

Fires broke out at the blast site in the Chinese port city at 11:40 a.m. local time Saturday, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Authorities pulled out one survivor from a shipping container today, state media reported.

Major explosions in the Chinese city of Tianjin on Wednesday evening has grabbed the world’s attention for the past couple of days as news of its cause, casualties, and possible government negligence continues to unfold. Majority were caught off guard by the second one,...

He also described regaining consciousness and seeing what he described as fire rain falling from the sky.

Renault said that almost 1500 of its imported cars stored in a warehouse at the port had been burned while Toyota said the blasts broke windows at its vehicle assembly, logistics, and research buildings, which are jointly run with China’s FAW Group.

The death toll could have been higher had the explosions occurred during the day, when more people would have been working in the area.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose two basis points to 2.17% at 17:42 BST.

The global benchmark, Brent crude LCOU5, -0.95% fell 67 cents, or 1.3%, to $49.51 a barrel on London’s ICE exchange.

General Motors shares fell 3.5 percent to $30.83, though it said the devaluation of the yuan would have a “limited and manageable” impact on its business.

Xinhua reported that firefighters were called to the warehouse at 10:50 p.m., and the explosion occurred around 40 minutes later. There also are worries over fumes released by chemical fires.

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

European stocks were still poised for their worst week in four, though, after China’s surprise currency devaluation on Tuesday.

Officials said Zhou had no recollection of when he reached the scene, and it was not clear whether he was among the first responders to the site who were caught up in the giant blasts, or if he arrived some time later.