Warehouse blast rocks Chinese port of Tianjin, 2 months after explosion left

The official Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday that a blast hit a warehouse for alcohol materials in the city Monday night and started a fire.

The explosion occurred around 9:40 p.m. Monday at a warehouse owned by Tianjin Yong Sheng Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.at Xiditou Township of Beichen District. Two many months after massive explosions left 173 people lifeless or missing, Tianijn has-been rattled again by a warehouse blast. No casualties were reported in the blast last night and the fire is under control now, it said in a brief report.

Because of its location, the latest explosion became a trending topic early Tuesday on Sina Weibo – a microblogging service similar to Twitter – with users posting what they said were images of the blast.

Tianjin police said they detained the owner of a chemical company that illegally rented a private warehouse from an area resident to store chemicals. The facility had 3,000kg of alcohol, in close proximity to 1,000kg of acetic acid, used to make plastics, it said.

Explosions are common in China, where safety standards are often lax.

Thousands were left homeless following the disaster, which was the deadliest for Chinese firefighters in more than 60 years.

The local government said the explosion posed no risk to people or the environment.