CHINA-BLAST/HOSPITAL UPDATE People injured in Tianjin explosion are treated in hospital, recall escaping from blast

Record ID: 144173

  • Title: CHINA-BLAST/HOSPITAL UPDATE People injured in Tianjin explosion are treated in hospital, recall escaping from blast
  • Date: 13th August 2015
  • Summary: TIANJIN, CHINA (AUGUST 13, 2015) (REUTERS) EMERGENCY WARD AT A HOSPITAL PEOPLE SPEAKING TO MEDICAL STAFF LIST OF THE INJURED PEOPLE BEING ADMITTED INTO HOSPITAL RELATIVES CHECKING THE LIST (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINA CONCORD LOGISTICS CO., LTD STAFF, SONG JIANYONG, SAYING: "We are checking the list and looking for 10 missing people. We are also posting the message among friends. (We are checking) hospitals in Tianjin downtown through friends to see if we could find the ten people. They transferred some severely injured people to other hospitals, so we are so anxious as we are now unable to get hold of them. Their relatives are all here." AN INJURED PERSON BEING TRANSFERRED LOCAL WORKER WU DEJUN LYING ON BED INJURIES ON WU'S FACE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) LOCAL WORKER, WU DEJUN, SAYING: "(I) saw a fire far away. Then there was suddenly an explosion. (My mind) just went blank. The first reaction was to run. I then heard another burst. I escaped and was running wild. I got blood all over my body. My friend sent me to the hospital." WU LYING ON BED INJURED MISS LI SITTING ON BED WHILE HER RELATIVES STAND BESIDE THE BED INJURIES ON MISS LI'S FACE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) SISTER-IN-LAW OF MISS LI, MISS XU, SAYING: "We didn't know (the situation). We were in different places at that time. We just knew that a residential compound was badly damaged after explosions occurred. We could not find her afterwards. We were looking for her through the whole night. We finally found her in the morning." MEDICAL MONITOR SYSTEM 25-YEAR-OLD FACTORY WORKER HUA HONGWEI LYING ON BED (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 25-YEAR-OLD FACTORY WORKER, HUA HONGWEI, SAYING: "I was resting in my place at around eleven. The first blast was not very strong but it woke me up. Then I got up and walked to the balcony to take a look. The second burst blew me away." HUA SPEAKING EXTERIOR OF EMERGENCY WARD VARIOUS OF PEOPLE TRANSFERRING BOXES OF WATER FROM A TRUCK
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7K4Y1LHP8HPRHNUGP8L9TQVH
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Worried family and friends of people who have not been contactable since massive explosions hit China's Tianjin port city crowded hospitals on Thursday (August 13) hopeful of news.
    Two huge explosions tore through an industrial area where toxic chemicals and gas were stored late on Wednesday (August 12), killing at least 44 people, including 12 fire fighters, officials and state media said.
    At least 520 people were injured, more than 60 of them seriously.
    At the reception area of a local hospital, medical staff had a list of patients who had been admitted for relatives and to check.
    Song Jianyong, from China Concord Logistics Co,. Ltd was looking for colleagues.
    "We are checking the list and looking for 10 missing people. We are also posting the message among friends. (We are checking) hospitals in Tianjin downtown through friends to see if we could find the ten people. They transferred some severely injured people to other hospitals, so we are so anxious as we are now unable to get hold of them. Their relatives are all here," Song said.
    One local worker who was being treated at the hospital recalled fleeing from the explosions in a panic.
    "(I) saw a fire far away. Then there was suddenly an explosion. (My mind) just went blank. The first reaction was to run. I then heard another burst. I escaped and was running wild. I got blood all over my body. My friend sent me to the hospital," said a local worker Wu Dejun.
    Relatives of some of the injured had spent a long night searching for their loved ones.
    A woman named Miss Xu, the sister-in-law of a woman named Miss Li, who was injured, said the family found her not being able to contact her for a whole evening.
    "We didn't know (the situation). We were in different places at that time. We just knew that residential compound was badly damaged after explosions occurred. We could not find her afterwards. We were looking for her through the whole night, we finally found her in the morning," said Xu.
    Factory worker Hua Hongwei, 25, being treated for his injuries at the hospital, says he was surprised by the power of the second explosion.
    "I was resting in my place at elevenish. The first blast was not very strong but it waked me up. Then I got up and walked to the balcony to take a look. The second burst blew me away," he said.
    Wednesday night's blasts, so large that they were seen by satellites in space, sent shockwaves through apartment blocks kilometres away in the port city of 15 million people.
    Internet videos showed fireballs shooting into the sky and the U.S. Geological Survey registered the blasts as seismic events.
    Vast areas of the port - the 10th largest in the world - were devastated, crumpled shipping containers were thrown around like match sticks, hundreds of new cars were torched and port buildings left as burnt-out shells, Reuters witnesses said.
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