CHINA-BLAST/PROTEST UPDATE Residents near Tianjin blast site demand talks with government

Record ID: 143622

  • Title: CHINA-BLAST/PROTEST UPDATE Residents near Tianjin blast site demand talks with government
  • Date: 17th August 2015
  • Summary: TIANJIN, CHINA (AUGUST 17, 2015) (REUTERS) RESIDENTS GATHERED OUTSIDE HOTEL WHERE OFFICIAL NEWS CONFERENCE IS BEING HELD BANNERS TIED TO TREE READING (In Chinese): "BUY BACK LIANFA (NAME OF COMPOUND)" RESIDENTS HOLDING BANNER READING (In Chinese) NAME OF THEIR COMPOUND "WUWANJINGJUN" TWO WOMEN HOLDING BANNER READING (In Chinese): "(FIRST LINE)JINYULANWAN (NAME OF COMPOUND)
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA98SOV4CLZHG132QKD8SAPBT7A
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hundreds of residents displaced by huge explosions last week in China's port city of Tianjin demanded compensation on Monday (August 17), as authorities worked to complete a sweep of the blast site for dangerous chemicals.
    The death toll from the two blasts last Wednesday (August 12) rose to 114, officials said. More than 700 people were injured and 70 are still missing, most of them fire fighters, the official Xinhua news agency said.
    The explosions sent massive fireballs into the sky and hurled burning debris across the industrial area at the world's 10th-largest port, burning out buildings and shattering windows kilometres away.
    Xinhua reported there had been another small explosion on Monday. Dark smoke had cleared after the blast but flames could still be seen.
    As teams specialised in handling hazardous chemicals scrambled to clean up the blast site, Tianjin's deputy mayor, He Shushan, confirmed there was about 700 tons of the deadly chemical sodium cyanide stored at the warehouse that blew up.
    About 200 emotional protesters gathered outside a hotel where officials were briefing journalists.
    "We don't know if there will be further leaks in the future, we don't know anything. We could be living near a ticking time bomb. What's more we believe that in 2011 the government should have let us know when they were constructing the hazardous chemicals storage warehouse. If the government was not aware of it, doesn't it mean that they have already failed to do their job?" said local resident Mr. Chen.
    The protesters, carrying signs that read "buy back (our homes)", demanded compensation and talks with government officials. There were no clashes.
    "At the moment we're waiting for the government, we don't know what the government has prepared for us. In a while we'll go inside," said another protester, who declined to be named.
    Representatives of different residential communities were eventually taken away on a bus to meet with officials.
    Soldiers and rescue workers in gas masks and hazard suits continued to search for toxic materials at the blast site on Monday, the goal is to clear the chemicals before any rain falls, which could create further toxic gas.
    Officials said environmental standards were still "basically guaranteed" and that there were contingency plans to prevent possible rainfall from creating dangerous gases or spreading contamination.
    Some 6,300 people have been displaced by the blasts.
    China's top prosecutor, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, has opened an investigation into the warehouse explosions.
    Industrial accidents are not uncommon in China after three decades of fast economic growth.
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