CHINA-BLAST/SHELTERS Temporary shelters built for homeless as search for missing persons continues after Tianjin explosion
Record ID:
143355
CHINA-BLAST/SHELTERS Temporary shelters built for homeless as search for missing persons continues after Tianjin explosion
- Title: CHINA-BLAST/SHELTERS Temporary shelters built for homeless as search for missing persons continues after Tianjin explosion
- Date: 14th August 2015
- Summary: TIANJIN, CHINA (AUGUST 14, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF TAIDA KAIFA DISTRICT PARAMILITARY SOLDIER POINTING VOLUNTEERS HOLDING SIGNS UNDER TENT WITH INFORMATION ON MISSING PERSONS WOMAN HOLDING SIGN READING (Chinese): "INFORMATION ON MISSING PERSONS" VOLUNTEERS POSTER SHOWING PHONE NUMBERS AND NAMES OF MISSING PERSONS GARBAGE TRUCK LEAVING SCHOOL ENTRANCE/PARAMILITARY TEMPORARY SHELTERS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SITTING UNDER TEMPORARY SHELTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 40-YEAR-OLD MIGRANT WORKER, ZHU DEYU, SAYING: "The second explosion reached our tin houses, and they all collapsed. And we crawled out from our tin homes. We crawled out to the road, and on the road there was a metre-deep hole left from the explosion." GIRL PLAY IN TEMPORARY SHELTER/PEOPLE SITTING VOLUNTEERS UNPACKING CLOTHING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) MIGRANT WORKER, MA SHIHU, SAYING: "At that time my mouth was very dry. It was extremely dry, for the whole day. My whole body was aching and I had a headache." PEOPLE SITTING IN TEMPORARY SHELTERS VARIOUS OF INJURED MAN LYING DOWN
- Embargoed: 29th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA4YZLRCE8NJ1GVSPAJC6H658Q8
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Migrant workers on Friday (August 14) settled into temporary shelters and recalled the horrifying blasts that killed at least 54 people in China's eastern port city of Tianjin.
In a local school which has now been turned into a help centre and temporary housing shelter set up by the local government, volunteers assist those searching for people still missing after the blast.
During a government-sponsored tour of the centre Friday afternoon, volunteers displayed information including names and phone numbers of the missing that family members and friends left on posters.
According to government officials guiding the media tour, most of those living in temporary housing appeared to be "from outside of Tianjin".
Zhu Deyu, a migrant worker who lived in a cheap tin housing complex established for workers not far from the blast site, recalled the night of the explosion.
"The second explosion reached our tin houses, and they all collapsed. And we crawled out from our tin homes. We crawled out to the road, and on the road there was a metre-deep hole left from the explosion," said Zhu.
Many of the buildings destroyed by the explosion were cheaply-assembled dormitories housing migrant workers.
Ma Shihu, a migrant worker, said he could immediately smell the gases after the explosion.
"At that time my mouth was very dry. It was extremely dry, for the whole day. My whole body was aching and I had a headache," said Ma.
The explosions at the port, the world's 10th largest, were so big they were seen by satellites in space and registered on earthquake sensors.
At least 54 people were killed, including more than a dozen firefighters, by the massive blasts on Wednesday (August 12) night, state media said.
About 700 people were injured, 71 seriously, according to state media.
An investigation into the cause of the disaster is underway.
A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency's Beijing environmental emergency response centre, as well as 214 Chinese military nuclear and biochemical materials specialists, had gone to Tianjin, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
Several thousand residents were moved to 10 nearby schools after apartment buildings and homes were damaged, mainly by shockwaves from the explosions, it said.
Foreign companies from across the globe were trying to determine the damage to their facilities in and around the port, a gateway to northeast China. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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