“Are the officials corrupt, or what?”
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“Just think what could happen when the rain hits those dangerous chemicals; a lot of them are all over the ground”, Zhao said.
“We don’t want to live there anymore”.
Memorial ceremonies marking the seventh day since the deaths of the 114 people were attended by officials in Tianjin, while the city was decked out in white mourning flowers and echoed with sirens on Tuesday.
“The Government and the people of Pakistan are deeply saddened to learn about the tragic Tianjin incident”.
It has not been possible to reach the company since Thursday but one of its workers defended its operations. From the Party’s perspective, regular repression of civil society does have its benefits: as many experts have pointed out, there is no meaningful organized opposition to the Party anywhere in China.
Residents worried about lingering contamination.
Years ago, in the late 1980s, I visited Tianjin during a trip related to my research activities.
“They have said nothing”. This was back when shortwave radio was one of the main ways that people in totalitarian countries could get news that wasn’t controlled by the government. She wears a surgical mask while outside, as do several other protesters. “The soldiers wouldn’t let us into the compound”.
“We asked for a meeting but they didn’t do that”.
“When it comes to natural or man-made disasters, we used to see Grandpa Wen on the scene within 48 hours”, Lam said.
‘Lessons paid for with blood’.
Local officials have been hard-pressed to explain why authorities permitted hazardous goods warehouses so close to residential complexes and critical infrastructure, clearly in violation of the Chinese rule that hazmat storage should be 1,000 meters (yards) away from homes and public structures.
The official Xinhua news agency, citing military sources, said a nuclear and biological team of more than 300 people had entered the core explosion site and began clean-up operations.
“The only way to improve safety is to make it a priority in the workplace, to create a culture where employers, employees and regulators all stress the importance of safety over the blind pursuit of profit”, Mr Crothall told The Straits Times.
The State Administration of Work Safety is one of many government departments that regulate companies that operate with dangerous materials.
Sodium cyanide is highly toxic, and in contact with water releases hydrogen cyanide gas, which is toxic and flammable.
On Sunday, Shi, the military commander, offered more details about what was at the site. No unsafe levels were found at 14 inspection sites outside the zone, he said.
Gao said further investigation, including checks of customs records, would be needed to establish the types and amounts of all the chemicals at the warehouse. “These levels are actually very low”, he said.
A resident surnamed Wang said he had no idea how hazardous the warehouse area could be. But the cause of the fire has yet to be determined. The warehouse that exploded was owned by the Rui Hai international Logistics Company, which was unable to provide officials with a complete inventory of what was in the building when it caught fire.
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Many people in the area suffered injuries from glass shattered in the huge fireballs that lit up the night sky Wednesday night.
