Officials have confirmed that the warehouse at the centre of the explosions, owned by Rui Hai worldwide Logistics, stored 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide among hundreds of tonnes of other toxic chemicals. In addition, 3,000 cars have been destroyed.
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Deng Xiaowen, director of the Tianjin Environmental Monitoring Center, said it was not surprising to see large quantities of dead fish in the summer.
On Thursday, several reports suggested cyanide levels in Tianjin’s waters to be between 277 to over 350 times the standard limit.
Chinese authorities have denied that the deaths of thousands of fish are linked to last week’s chemical explosions in Tianjin, The Guardian reported.
Shortly after the inspection findings were made public, Chinese emergency workers raced to put out four new fires that had broken out close to the Tianjin blast site, where explosions at a warehouse storing unsafe chemicals killed 114 people last week.
Cyanide levels in samples from rivers and offshore were below toxic levels.
“Lately, in some places there have been major industrial safety accidents, one after the other, revealing yet again that problems in the area of industrial safety remain prominent and grave”, said a statement issued after the meeting Thursday.
Today’s exclusion zone was brought in as angry relatives of around 25 missing firefighters stormed a government news conference, demanding information on their loved ones.
Nationwide inspections of facilities handling risky chemicals and explosives were ordered by China’s State Council after the blasts last week.
The insurance industry may have to pay far more than initial estimates of $1.5 billion to settle claims related to this month’s Tianjin explosions.
A puppy found near the site of deadly explosions at a Chinese port has been hailed online.
Recovery personnel have built a dam of sand and earth around the blasts’ central 100,000-square-metre “core area” to prevent pollutant leakage, and officials insist air and water are safe. While officials haven’t suggested this is what caused this week’s disturbing sight at the Haihe River, they are steering clear of blaming it on cyanide. Warning of widespread “negligence and an alarming lack of enforcement of the regulations”, Wu said “Tianjin must be a wake-up call for the authorities” to ensure that safety rules are implemented, and residents informed of potential risks close to their homes.
Tianjin’s Vice Mayor He Shushan told the People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s Official newspaper that only 20% of potentially deadly sodium cyanide had been removed from the blast site as of August 20.
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“For safety reasons, the team can’t work when it rains and during the night”.
