CHINA-BLAST/FIRE-EVACUATION Tianjin explosion evacuation zone increased to 3 km.

Record ID: 143814

  • Title: CHINA-BLAST/FIRE-EVACUATION Tianjin explosion evacuation zone increased to 3 km.
  • Date: 15th August 2015
  • Summary: TIANJIN, CHINA (AUGUST 15, 2015) (REUTERS) BLOCKED ROAD VARIOUS OF SWAT TEAM STANDING AT BLOCKED ROAD VARIOUS OF CARS BEHIND BARRIER CARS BEING TURNED AWAY AT ROADBLOCK (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 27 YEAR-OLD, MAN SURNAMED SUN, SAYING: "I'd just bought some things and when I got to roughly number nine street, I had to get out the car because they've blocked the road. I asked th
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7P0U121B24EQ46B9DFQ0IR81N
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Chinese authorities on Saturday (August 15) increased the evacuation zone surrounding a volatile blast site where a two explosions ripped through a port in Tianjin.
    An area three km (two miles) from the site was cordoned off while one school, which had been set up as a safe haven for residents living close to the danger area, had since been evacuated, the Beijing News said. It did not give a reason.
    There were about seven small explosions in the area on Saturday, according to a post on the micro-blog of the official China Central Television. A Reuters witness said a fresh blaze ignited cars in a parking lot next to the blast site. The cause was not immediately clear. State media carried reports of other fires in the area.
    One resident, surnamed Sun, said he was forced to leave the road after police blocked off the area.
    "I'd just bought some things and when I got to roughly number nine street, I had to get out the car because they've blocked the road. I asked them what's going on they said it's still dangerous inside, you can't enter," he said.
    A volunteer surnamed Liu said that police forced him and his colleagues out, saying the intensity of the battle against the fire was increasing.
    "Just now, police officers came over and said everyone on the road has to go over there because over there they're about to start the final battle (against the fire)," he said.
    The blasts late on Wednesday (August 13) originated in a warehouse storing toxic chemicals and some residents expressed concern that the air and water could have been poisoned.
    Chinese police have for the first time confirmed deadly sodium cyanide at the site of two huge warehouse blasts that killed 85 people, state media said on Saturday.
    Police confirmed the presence of the chemical, fatal when ingested or inhaled, "roughly east of the blast site" in an industrial zone in the northeastern port city of Tianjin, the state-run Beijing News said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register