Some local media reported earlier that Rui Hai Logistics, owner of the warehouse which is licensed to store risky chemicals, had as much as 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide, but Gao said it was not yet verifiable.
Advertisement
A chemical warehouse destroyed by explosions and a fireball in north-eastern China caught fire again Saturday after a series of fresh blasts, after which police ordered residents within a 3-kilometre radius to evacuate, state media said.
The team of nuclear and chemical experts is on the ground on Friday in the northern port city of Tianjin, the scene of two massive explosions that have left at least 55 people dead. One report suggested that water used by first responders may have come into contact with a chemical that explodes on contact with water, but an official is also quoted as saying the first wave of firefighters could not have sparked the blasts.
Fires that started as the blasts torched cars and reduced buildings to blackened shells are still smouldering among hazardous materials, prompting fears of further blasts. The facility was also licensed to handle calcium carbide, a risky compound known to release flammable gases when mixed with water.
“When the blasts occurred, several firefighters were working to put out the fire as backup forces just arrived”, said Tianjin fire chief Zhou Tian.
Tianjin, with a population of about 15 million, is being promoted by the Chinese government as a center for finance and high-tech industry. A total of 721 were injured, of whom 25 are still in critical condition.
The explosions at city’s port district – the world’s 10th largest – were so large they were seen by satellites in space and registered on natural disaster sensors. More than 200 chemical specialists from the military have been sent in with detection devices, Xinhua reported.
Thousands of residents have been moved to nearby schools after homes and apartment buildings were damaged, mostly by the shockwaves from the blasts, the official Xinhua news agency said.
He said: “We knew there was calcium carbide inside but we didn’t know whether it had already exploded”. Mining giant BHP Billiton said its port operations and shipments were disrupted but its iron ore discharging berth had not been damaged.
The People’s Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece, said that the facility “clearly violated” safety regulations.
The company said on its website it was a government-approved firm specialising in handling “dangerous goods”.
“There was no chance to escape, and that’s why the casualties were so severe”, he said.
Advertisement
In the past decade, around 285 Fortune 500 companies have set up bases in Binhai, which is a new growth pole in China and is a hub of advanced industry and financial activity. Videos posted on social media showed great flashes of light in the night sky.
