The Ruihai global Logistics warehouse stored up to 40 different kinds of chemicals, including 700 tons of sodium cyanide, 800 tons of ammonium nitrate and 500 tons of potassium.
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It is unclear whether or not Shenghua has an owner and he was last reported with rescue workers at the blast site, according to the BBC.
The explosion propelled barrels of these chemicals hundreds of meters from the blast site. In addition, 3,000 cars have been destroyed.
Thousands of people whose homes were damaged by the explosions’ shock waves took shelter in nearby schools and apartment compounds in the days afterward.
Greenpeace said yesterday it had detected low levels of cyanide in surface water at three test points in Tianjin, two of them near the site and one at the Haihe river, where pictures on social media had shown thousands of dead fish.
The Tianjin Binhai New Area is still smouldering with combustible chemicals, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Deng Xiaowen, director of the Tianjin Environmental Monitoring Center, said it was not surprising to see large quantities of dead fish in the summer.
How is the clean up progressing? No information was provided detailing what led to the fires, but disaster response work continued on Friday after the flare-ups.
Cyanide levels more than 350 times the standard limits have been detected in water close to the site of deadly explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials said on Thursday (Aug 20).
The polluted water is being contained in a “warning zone” around the blast site, officials said.
So far, 200 tonnes of sodium cyanide has been collected and removed from the site, said Wang Hongjiang, vice mayor of Tianjin, adding that the team will soon focus on processing metallic sodium and magnesium.
How have Chinese authorities responded?
Some of the executives of Rui Hai worldwide Logistics Co. – including stakeholders Dong Shexuan and Yu Xuewei – are under police detention.
The company’s website said it was a government-approved firm specializing in handling “dangerous goods”.
Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday said the investigation into the disaster must be thorough and cover all parties that helped the company obtain the license to store hazardous materials.
The investigators will also advise what punishments should be given when charges are laid.
Last week, the state council initiated a nationwide inspection into the storage of risky chemicals and explosives.
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“As the principal leader of Tianjin, I have inescapable responsibility for the incident”, said Huang, who met with the media for the first time one week after the blasts occurred.
