Death toll from China port blasts reaches 85

PanARMENIAN.Net - The death toll from an inferno and huge explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin climbed to 85 on Saturday, Aug 15, including 21 firefighters, with hundreds of people injured and some still unaccounted for, the Associated Press reports.

A rapid succession of explosions late Wednesday — one equal to 21 tons of TNT — were sparked by a fire at what authorities said were shipping containers containing hazardous material at a warehouse, and they struck a mostly industrial zone late at night — otherwise the death toll could have been much higher. But the warehouse was close enough to residences to appear out of compliance with safety regulations, raising questions about whether the facility had properly been authorized.

The toll included at least 21 firefighters among the more than 1,000 sent to the disaster, local officials told a news conference Saturday. Firefighters initially responded to a fire at the warehouse and many of them apparently were killed by a series of explosions triggered 40 minutes after the fire was reported.

Authorities have not said what caused the explosions, saying only that they originated at the warehouse owned by Ruihai International Logistics. Its website says the company is authorized to handle chemicals ranging from flammable gases and liquids, including compressed natural gas and ethyl acetate, to chemicals that explode on contact with water, including sodium cyanide and calcium carbide.

However, the warehouse was a transit point and authorities have no clear picture of what was there at the time of the blasts.