SHANGHAI, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Two massive explosions caused by flammable goods rocked an industrial area in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin late on Wednesday, killing 13 people and injuring around 250, the official China Daily newspaper reported.
Pictures posted on Chinese media websites showed fire shooting into the air, nearly twice the height of nearby apartment buildings. Residents and workers, some bleeding, could be seen fleeing the scene.
State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said the blasts erupted in a shipment of explosives at around 11:30 p.m. local time, triggering a blast wave that was felt kilometres (miles) away.
The second blast came roughly 30 seconds after the first, CCTV and the official Xinhua news agency said.
Canadian teacher Monica Andrews told the BBC that she awoke in panic after what she thought was an earthquake.
“I … looked out the window and the sky was red … I just watched a second explosion go off and (it was) just pure chaos, everyone leaving their apartment buildings thinking it’s an earthquake, cars trying to leave the complex and … it was crazy the amount of light that this explosion and fire lit up,” she said.
Xinhua said the explosions had ripped through a warehouse storing “dangerous goods”. The first explosion was equivalent to 3 tonnes of TNT and the second blast 21 tonnes of TNT, it said.
Residents in nearby areas said the blasts had shattered windows in buildings, it reported.
Citing a local hospital, Xinhua said people had been hurt by broken glass and stones and some were seriously injured.
CCTV said on its website about 100 fire trucks had been sent to the scene.
Industrial accidents are not uncommon in China following three decades of breakneck economic growth. A blast at an auto parts factory in eastern China killed 75 people a year ago when a room filled with metal dust exploded. (Reporting by Kazunori Takada; Writing by Andrew Roche, John Stonestreet and Dean Yates; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said a shipment of explosives had detonated but this was not confirmed.
State media also said senior managers of Ruihai Logistics, which owned the warehouse where the explosion took place, were being questioned by authorities.
The first explosion at about 23:30 (15:30 GMT) on Wednesday was followed by another, more powerful blast, seconds later. Shockwaves were felt several kilometres away.
BBC Chinese Service editor Raymond Li says all indications are that it was an industrial accident.
At the scene: John Sudworth, BBC News, Tianjin
The apartment complex closest to the explosion has eight rows of high-rise tower blocks.
In every one of them, almost every window has been blown out. On the ground outside are the signs of the many families who have fled from their beds in a hurry - a woman's shoe, children's toys, mangled bicycles.
There would have been many injured here. Inside the homes, furniture has been picked up as if by a whirlwind and interior doors lie at angles, ripped off their hinges.
It may be a long time before the cause of the explosion is known. Such is the scale of this disaster that for now, the authorities are simply struggling to achieve an accurate account of the numbers of dead and injured.
The China Earthquake Networks Centre said the magnitude of the first explosion was the equivalent of detonating three tons of TNT, while the second was the equivalent of 21 tonnes of the explosive.
Further blasts were subsequently triggered nearby, Xinhua said.
CCTV said four firefighters were among the dead and that more than 400 people had been injured, at least 32 of them critically.
BBC producer Xinyan Yu, who is in Tianjin, said workers' dormitories were among the buildings destroyed.
Hours later, fires were still burning and 100 fire engines were at the scene, reportedCCTV.
One witness, named only as Ms Yang, told local media she was out shopping when "suddenly from behind there was a big fireball and explosion".
"At the time of the explosion the ground was shaking fiercely, nearby cars and buildings were shaking, glass from a few buildings all broke and everyone started to run," she said.
"Now all the residents are gathered in the street."
Another witness, Canadian teacher Monica Andrews, told how she woke in panic after what she thought was an earthquake.
"I... looked out the window and the sky was red. I just watched a second explosion go off and [it was] just pure chaos, everyone leaving their apartment buildings thinking it's an earthquake, cars trying to leave the complex. It was crazy," she told the BBC.
China National Radio said cracks were visible in buildings near the site of the blast.
Several tower blocks near the port area are without power, CCTV added.
Tianjin, home to some 15 million people, is a major port and industrial area to the south-east of the Chinese capital, Beijing,
Massive explosions have hit the container warehouse in the International Logistics Center at the Tianjin Port in China. The accident occurred at around 11:30 local time last night (Aug 12), causing a large-scale fire in the port’s surrounding area and leaving at least 17 people dead and hundreds more injured.
According to an information released by a local media, the explosion was caused by hazardous materials stored in a warehouse in the port area of Tianjin.
The first explosion was followed by another, more powerful blast, few seconds later. The shockwaves from the blast were felt several kilometres away.
Video and photo footages in the local news media showed the large-scale of devastation after the explosions, also that there was still fire in the port area in the morning.
According to calculations of the China Earthquake Networks Centre, the magnitude of the first explosion was the equivalent of detonating three tons of TNT, while the second was the equivalent of 21 tonnes of the explosive.
Tianjin’s Fire Brigade reported that they have lost contact with 36 firefighters in the fire, with another nine confirmed dead and dozens of them injured.
People who have witnessed the accident said that containers have been blown to the nearby highway by the huge blast.
Tianjin Port Authority have made an official announcement that the explosion occurred in the warehouse of Ruihai International Logistics, a private company which main business is the transportation of hazardous cargoes.
Chinese Authorities have conducted an investigation on the accident at Tianjin Port but all indications are that it was an industrial accident.
Tianjin Port Authority is evaluating the losses and it was reported that the port service operations were back to normal.
Aftermath: In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, smoke rises from the site of explosions from a nearby building in the Binhai New Area in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality. The explosions claimed the lives of at least 44 people and injured 400 more
Mangled: Smoke billows behind rows of burnt out cars at the site of a series of explosions in Tianjin, northern China, after last night's blast
Blaze: At least 44 people have been killed and up to 400 more injured after several explosions tore through a warehouse in Tianjin
Carnage: Excavators clear wreckage near the site of the explosions that crumpled shipping containers at the Binhai new district in Tianjin
Blast: The huge explosion hit an industrial area of China last night in the north-eastern city of Tianjin, killing at least 44 and injuring 400
Injured: A survivor is taken to a hospital following the explosion in Tianjin, which killed 44 people and injured up to around 400 others
Shell-shocked: An injured man is covered in blood as he waits in hospital after the explosion at the warehouse in Tianjin
Agony: A firefighter injured in the explosions receives treatment at Teda Hospital in Tianjin, China. At least 11 of his colleagues have died
Stunned: An injured man walks out with other residents from an area near the site of a series of explosions in Tianjin, northern China
The force of the explosions unnerved residents across much of the city of 15 million people and fires were still burning at dawn.
The port, one of the busiest in China, was operating normally, a port official said.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, the first explosion detonated with the force equivalent of three tons of TNT and registered 2.3 on the Richter scale.
The second detonation was equal to 21 tons of TNT and registered 2.9 on the Richter scale.
Zhao Zhencheng, a driver who spent the night in the cab of his truck, said: 'It was like what we were told a nuclear bomb would be like. I've never even thought I'd see such a thing. It was terrifying but also beautiful.'
Watch video
Charred: Damaged cars are seen as smoke rises from the debris after the explosions at the Binhai new district in Tianjin, China, last night
Destroyed: Rows of burnt out Volkswagen cars are seen near the site of a series of explosions in Tianjin, northern China, this morning
Shock: A man looks at a row of damaged cars outside a residential building near the site of a series of explosions in Tianjin, China, today
Wreckage: Official reports say at least 44 people were killed and hundreds more injured. 32 people are critically injured, and 283 in hospital
Graphs from a seismic station 20 miles from the blast zone in Tianjin shows how the explosions registered 2.3 and 2.9 on the Richter scale
President Xi Jinping demanded that authorities quickly extinguish the fires and "make full effort to rescue and treat the injured and ensure the safety of people and their property', China Central Television (CCTV) said on its official microblog.
He also promised to dish out a severe punishment if anyone was found to be at fault because of the blast.
The Xinhau state news agency said that a warehouse that stored 'dangerous and chemical goods' blew up but offered no more details.
The agency has said that 36 firefighters in total are unaccounted for after they first attended a fire at the warehouse before it exploded.
Burnt: Damaged cars are seen as smoke rises from the debris after the explosions at the Binhai new district in Tianjin, China, on August 13
Blasts: Damaged vehicles are seen under bridges close to the site of the explosions at Binhai new district, Tianjin, early this morning
Undeterred: A driver is seen inside a damaged car on a highway near the site of the explosions at the Binhai new district in Tianjin
Shattered: A worker walks past dormitories damaged by the shockwave from the explosion, which caused devastation for miles away
Devastation: A building is gutted by the huge explosions which hit a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality yesterday
According to the firm which owns the warehouse, the entire facility covers half a million square feet and has up to 70 employees.
Tianjin resident Zhang Siyu, who lives several miles from the blast site, said: ‘I thought it was an earthquake, so I rushed downstairs without my shoes on.
‘Only once I was outside did I realise it was an explosion. There was the huge fireball in the sky with thick clouds. Everybody could see it.’
The resident added that she could see wounded people weeping - and although she did not see anyone who had been killed - she ‘could feel death’.
Fireball: The blast is believed to have erupted in a shipment of explosives at about 11.30pm local time, killing 44 people and injuring 400
Inferno: Flames tore through a fleet of Renault cars, damaging more than 1,000, after the explosions at a warehouse late on Wednesday
Apocalyptic: A screen grab from taken from state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) footage shows the huge explosion
Tackling the blaze: Firefighters work at the site as smoke and fire rise from the debris after the explosions at the Binhai new district, Tianjin
Blazing: A firefighter tries to extinguish the flames as fire ravages through a fleet of more than 1,000 cars near the warehouse explosion
Clips posted on Chinese social network Weibo show a fireball shooting into the air and at least two separate explosions, while photos show people in the street apparently covered in blood.
Others images show children being carried in blankets to safety, although the veracity of the pictures could not immediately be confirmed.
The explosions took place in a mostly industrial zone, with some apartment buildings in the vicinity.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was in Tianjin yesterday morning to visit an Airbus assembly plant as part of a two-day trip to China - but returned to Beijing before the explosion.
Ablaze: Several vehicles are seen burning following blasts in Tianjin municipality late yesterday evening, which killed at least 44 people
Huge: Videos of the explosion show flames lighting up the sky and the blast reportedly shattered windows on properties miles away
Frightening: People take shelter on a street after the huge warehouse explosion in the north-eastern Chinese port city of Tianjin yesterday
Crushed windscreen: A damaged vehicle is seen near the site of the blasts in Tianjin yesterday evening as the city learns of the incident
It was claimed that the two explosions happened within 30 seconds of each other and about 100 fire trucks were sent to the scene, with most of the injuries caused by broken glass and stones.
Nine firefighters called to the scene were killed in the blasts, while 36 remained out of contact today.
In one neighbourhood of Tianjin, about ten miles from the blast site, some people were sleeping on the street wearing gas masks.
There was the huge fireball in the sky with thick clouds. Everybody could see it
Zhang Siyu,Tianjin resident
Local resident Han Xiang said: ‘It was like the earthquake back in 1976 with glass breaking. But then there was a huge mushroom cloud so we thought we were also in a war.’
Liu Junwei, 29, who was working at a luxury Fifth Avenue apartment complex just one mile from the site of the explosion, said the building he was working on had been badly damaged.
Like surrounding buildings, the Mediterranean style complex had all its windows blown out, and some of its surfaces were scorched.
He said: 'It's a total loss. Two years of hard work down the drain.'
'It had been all quiet, then the sky just lit up brighter than day and it looked like a fireworks show,' said another worker on the site who gave just his surname, Li.
The logistics firm running the warehouse was named by local media as Ruihai Logistics.
The company says on its website that it was established in 2011 and is an approved company for handling hazardous materials. It says it handles one million tons of cargo annually.
After the blast: Smoke and fire are seen following the explosion in the Chinese city of Tianjin yesterday
On the scene: Rescuers are seen in a van near the site of the blasts in Tianjin municipality yesterday evening
The aftermath: There was a huge explosion of inflammable material stored in a warehouse in Tianjin
The National Earthquake Bureau reported two major blasts before midnight local time - the first with an equivalent of 3 tons of TNT, and the second with the equivalent of 21 tons.
It was like the earthquake back in 1976 with glass breaking. But then there was a huge mushroom cloud so we thought we were also in a war
Han Xiang, local resident
Six battalions of firefighters brought the ensuing fire under control, although it is still burning. It was reported that the firefighters were combing the neighbourhood for possible injured residents.
Meanwhile, one resident of Beijing told MailOnline via email: ‘Our cellphones here are receiving warnings that between 4.50am to 5.35am local time based on wind currents that toxic fumes from the explosions will reach Beijing.
‘We are being urged to keep doors and windows closed and avoid going outside. The worst part is that these are then followed by the advice that if you must go out wear a surgical mask.
‘Unless I've completely missed my lessons in chemistry, a surgical mask will be entirely ineffective against a toxic cloud from a chemical or gas explosion.
‘It is hard to know who to trust or what to do. My heart and prayers are with the victims and their families. Based on photos I've seen, the death toll will rise much higher.’
China has a dismal industrial safety record as some owners evade regulations to save money and pay off corrupt officials to look the other way.
In July, fifteen people were killed and more than a dozen injured when an illegal fireworks warehouse exploded in the northern Hebei province.
And at least 71 were killed in an explosion at a car parts factory in Kunshan, near Shanghai, in August 2014 last year.
Taking cover: Local residents gather on a street after the explosion rocked the area in north-eastern China
Smoke: Videos posted online showed a fireball shooting into the air and at least two separate explosions
Don't you find it extremely odd that nearly every car roof was depressed, as if from an explosive force coming straight down from above each car? What happened to all the glass? Why did hundreds of cars all "burn" identically? Why were no cars thrown or even nudged sideways from the blast supposedly coming from one or two buildings? Maybe it's not what the Zionic mass media says. Maybe you should see photographic forensics at C O N S P I R A . O R G
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