CHINA-BLAST/NEWSER Officials say don't know what chemicals were released in Tianjin explosion

Record ID: 143924

  • Title: CHINA-BLAST/NEWSER Officials say don't know what chemicals were released in Tianjin explosion
  • Date: 14th August 2015
  • Summary: TIANJIN, CHINA (AUGUST 14, 2015) (REUTERS) GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WALKING IN FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA FILMING/OFFICIALS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) TIANJIN HEALTH AND FAMILY PLANNING COMMITTEE HEAD, WANG JIANCUN, SAYING: "We've received a total of 701 injured people, of which 70 are injured seriously. In order to improve the level of our treatment work, a team of national
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAASG7MIEJYYKIT1X9JVMN1VBTA
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PART AUDIO AS INCOMING
    Investigators searched for clues on Friday (August 14) to identify what caused two huge explosions at a warehouse storing volatile chemicals at a busy port in northeast China, as foreign and local companies assessed the damage to their operations.
    The blasts in the city of Tianjin on Wednesday night killed at least 50 people, including a dozen fire fighters, state media said. About 700 people were injured, 71 seriously.
    "We've received a total of 701 injured people, of which 70 are injured seriously. In order to improve the level of our treatment work, a team of national experts and our Tianjin team of experts have been working closely together and have organised joint consultations between all of the treatment hospitals in the city for the seriously injured patients," said Wang Jiancun, who heads the Tianjin health and family planning committee.
    Rescuers pulled one survivor from the wreckage on Friday, a city official told reporters.
    Columns of smoke from fires still burning rose from the blast site amid the devastation of crumpled shipping containers, thousands of torched cars and port buildings reduced to burnt-out shells.
    The warehouse, designed to house dangerous and toxic chemicals, was storing mainly ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and calcium carbide at the time of the blasts, according to police.
    "Overall, the main pollutants in the air, methylbenzene, Methane, epoxy ethane, VOC (volatile organic compounds) have been gradually decreasing. By yesterday afternoon they were basically at normal levels," said Feng Yinchang, a professor at Tianjin's Nankai University School of Environmental Sciences.
    But the biggest problem for officials is the lack of clarity as to what was stored in the facility at the time of the explosions, as investigators discovered discrepancies between information provided by the company and information on the customs forms.
    "There's a lot about the situation on the ground that's not very clear, exactly what pollutants, what exploded, also what there is... we don't know. If the situation is not clear, we can't clearly determine exactly what kind of pollutants were emitted into the air when the explosion or accident happened," said Feng.
    The head of the Tianjin fire brigade, Zhou Tian, sidestepped questions from journalists as to whether fire fighters had initially sprayed water on the blaze and if this was the reason for the second explosion.
    "When the fire brigade, the Tianjin fire brigade, were conducting rescue operations, the first team arrived at roughly 11:06 pm, began to investigate the blaze in accordance with the rules and they made their judgement. When the second rescue team arrived, when they had just got on the scene, the explosion happened," he said.
    Zhou refused to take any further questions on the issue by journalists, saying he did not have any more information.
    The official Xinhua news agency has said several containers in the warehouse had caught fire before the blasts.
    Xinhua has reported 18 firefighters remain missing, with 66 among the hundreds of people hospitalised.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register