An explosion has struck a chemical warehouse in China’s northeastern port city of Tianjin, nearly two months after a string of bomb blasts killed scores of people there.
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Pictures posted to Chinese social media sites showed an orange fireball lighting up the night sky; one showed a man watching a plume of smoke rise from a distant mass of flames. Two months after massive explosions left 173 people dead or missing, Tianijn has been rattled again by a warehouse blast. Almost 6,600 pounds of alcohol were being stored in the 7,500 square-foot warehouse, the Associated Press reported, citing Tianjin government’s news office.
The latest explosion quickly became a trending topic on Sina Weibo, the country’s most popular microblog, racking up 250,000 searches by early morning Tuesday.
The blaze was started by a chemical leak, state television quoted the fire control authorities as saying.
Air pollution measurements were within safe levels and the incident posed no risks to health, officials said.
The August explosions and their aftermath raised a host of questions in China about industrial safety and poor fire-fighter training.
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The warehouse had been illegally rented from a local resident by a company registered in nearby Hebei province, the Tianjin government said.
