The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Tianjin—New explosions and fire rocked the Chinese port city of Tianjin last Saturday, where one survivor was pulled out and authorities ordered evacuations within a 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) radius to clean up chemical contamination.
Angry relatives of missing firefighters stormed a government news conference to demand information on their loved ones more than two days after the disaster.
The death toll in last Wednesday’s inferno and blasts that devastated industrial and residential zones has climbed to 85, including 21 firefighters, making the disaster the deadliest for Chinese firefighters in more than six decades.
An unknown number of firefighters remain missing, and 720 people have been injured in the rapid succession of explosions that began with a fire at shipping containers containing hazardous material at a warehouse.
Authorities last Saturday pulled out one survivor from a shipping container, state broadcaster CCTV said. His identity was not immediately known.
The government set up a no-man zone within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of the explosions to clean up chemical contamination from sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical that becomes combustible on contact with water or damp air, according to media reports.
Burning flames were spotted last Saturday, and explosions were reported by witnesses and state media.
In one case, heavy smoke from a fire engulfing several cars rose up as high as 10 meters, accompanied by at least five explosions.
Police and military personnel manned checkpoints on roads leading to the blast sites, and helicopters were seen hovering in the overcast sky. The air had a metallic chemical smell, and there was uneasiness over rain forecasts, although it was warm and windy.
Meanwhile, family members of missing firefighters disrupted the latest news conference, demanding to know if their loved ones were still alive.
“(The authorities) didn’t notify us at all,” said Liu Huan, whose son Liu Chuntao, has been missing since last Wednesday. “Our son is a firefighter, and there was a team of firefighters who lost contact. We couldn’t contact him.”
State media reported that the casualties of the first three squads of firefighters to respond and of a neighborhood police station have not yet been determined, suggesting that the death toll could still go up.
Tianjin Fire Department head Zhou Tian said at a news conference last Friday that the explosions occurred just as reinforcements had arrived on the scene and were just getting to work.
“There was no chance to escape, and that’s why the casualties were so severe,” he said. “We’re now doing all we can to rescue the missing,” Zhou said.
One bright moment, however, came last Friday, when Zhou Ti, a 19-year-old firefighter, was pulled from the zone and taken to a hospital. Zhou Ti and Zhou Tian are unrelated.
Li Yonghan, a doctor at Teda Hospital, called Zhou’s survival “miraculous” and said Zhou escaped death mainly because he was covered by his fallen comrades. Zhou had massive injuries, including burns and cuts in legs.
From his hospital bed, Zhou told CCTV the fire was spreading out of control.
“I was knocked onto the ground at the first blast,” recalled Zhou, his eyes swollen and closed. “I covered my head and don’t know what happened after that.” AP