CHINA-BLAST/NEWSER-FAMILIES Family members of missing firefighters await news as death toll in Tianjin blast rises

Record ID: 143807

  • Title: CHINA-BLAST/NEWSER-FAMILIES Family members of missing firefighters await news as death toll in Tianjin blast rises
  • Date: 15th August 2015
  • Summary: TIANJIN, CHINA (AUGUST 15, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS/ DIRECTOR OF TIANJIN'S INFORMATION OFFICE, GONG JIANSHENG, SAYING (Mandarin): "THE DEATH TOLL IS 85" (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) DIRECTOR OF TIANJIN'S INFORMATION OFFICE, GONG JIANSHENG, SAYING: "Among the injured, are 25 people are in critical condition. There are 33
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7O7M131Q02XMJ4MF3QF6PTA24
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The death toll from two huge explosions that tore through an industrial area in the northeastern Chinese port of Tianjin has risen to 85, local officials said on Saturday (August 15).
    "Among the injured, are 25 people are in critical condition. There are 33 in intensive care. Forty people have already left the hospital," said Gong Jiansheng, director of Tianjin's information office, said at a government press conference.
    Shockwaves from the blasts late on Wednesday (August 13) were felt by residents in apartment blocks kilometres away in the city of 15 million people.
    During the same government press conference on Saturday, around a dozen family members of mostly contract firefighters came into the facility, demanding authorities find their missing loved ones.
    Family members said their relatives were amongst the first firefighters to enter the blast area. Unlike the much-publicised efforts of the official firefighting force, the fate of many of these contract firefighters remains unknown, the family members said.
    Since the night of the blast, they have received no information on the whereabouts of their missing relatives.
    "We kept calling the (government) and they just kept repeating that they're still searching (for them). We are all contract workers. Our children came here to work. They were all hired by this department. But the problem is that their captain of squad number 4 was also in this team. Members of this squad and dead members have all been found. Their names and pictures were displayed on TV. Why can't these contract workers be found," said Wang Baoxia, whose older sister was part of the first team of firefighters to enter the blast site.
    Police tried to prevent the family members from speaking to reporters.
    "It's already been three days and three nights since the explosion. I don't have any information of my son. The relevant department hasn't given us any information at all. We are so anxious and worried so we came here to find reporters. My son was in the first squad to arrive at the blast site," said Wang Liying, whose missing son is also a contract firefighter.
    China on Friday (August 14) defended fire fighters who initially hosed water on a blaze in a warehouse storing volatile chemicals, a response foreign experts said could have contributed to the explosions.
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