The operators of the Tianjin site have been accused of “clearly violating” safety rules.
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The president also “urged authorities to learn from the “extremely profound” lessons paid for with blood” in the Tianjin explosions, Xinhua reported.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, said a nationwide inspection of unsafe chemicals and explosives would be launched in response to the disaster, along with a crackdown on illegal activities to strengthen industry safety.
Specialised anti-chemical soldiers found him 50 metres away from the explosion’s epicentre.
Gao Huaiyou, deputy director of Tianjin’s work safety watchdog, cited major discrepancies between the accounts of company management and customs and damage to the company’s office as reasons they are unable to identify the chemicals.
“Out of consideration for toxic substances spreading, the masses nearby have been asked to evacuate”, Xinhua is quoted in The Guardian.
Many residents could be seen wearing air-filtering masks.
The death toll for the initial explosions at the site has now risen to 85, including 21 firefighters, as reported by Xinhua News.
There have also been reports that firefighters who were first on the scene on Wednesday may have exacerbated the situation by attempting to douse the chemical fires with water.
“We knew there was calcium carbide inside but we didn’t know whether it had already exploded”, Lei said.
Officials say they have blocked off sewage pipelines that run from the port industrial area where the warehouse was located into the sea in an effort to prevent polluted water flowing out. That could have then detonated the ammonium nitrate. However, two kilometers from the explosion, the risky gasses could not be found.
“We have gone to each and every hospital by ourselves and not found them”, said Wang Baoxia, whose elder brother is missing.
Numerous fire trucks seen at the site hours after the blasts use a kind of firefighting foam.
Xi underlined that the cause of the fire must be found.
Columns of smoke from fires still burning on Friday rose from the site amid crumpled shipping containers, thousands of torched cars and burnt-out shells of port buildings.
It said the Ruihai company did not have a business licence to operate risky chemicals because of a regulatory loophole that allowed it to function with a licence governing port operations.
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Meanwhile, 721 others were hospitalised, including 25 critically injured and 33 in serious condition, the rescue headquarters said. With about 6,000 Tianjin residents forced from their homes and countless others unsure whether it was safe to breathe the air, government officials have struggled to reassure the public there was little danger.
