Powerful explosions rocked a port city in China's north on Wednesday, killing at least 17 and injuring hundreds. Blasts lit up the night sky and shook buildings miles away.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the explosions in Tianjin occurred around 11:30 p.m. in a warehouse at container port in the Binhai New Area section of the city.
Photos and video purporting to show the blasts and the enormous fireballs it caused circulated widely online on Wednesday. The WorldPost could not independently verify the images.
#Breaking: Massive explosion rocks N China's #Tianjin, cause & casualties unclear yet (web sources) @BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/GOG8Q7OWew
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) August 12, 2015
Tianjin's fire department reported that around 10:50 p.m. city firefighters responded to a blaze that broke out in the area of the blasts, according to a document posted by CCTV. The city's police department later specified the first blast occurred in shipping containers at a warehouse for hazardous materials owned by a logistics company. That explosion triggered several others.
At least 44 people were killed, including 12 firefighters sent in to fight the inferno. Hundreds of others were taken to nearby hospitals, The Associated Press reported.
Firefighting efforts at the site were suspended early Thursday due to lack of clarity about the contents and amount of the "dangerous goods" in the warehouse, according to a statement posted on the local government's official weibo.
The powerful blasts startled area residents and damaged nearby buildings.
"I thought it was an earthquake, so I rushed downstairs without my shoes on," Tianjin resident Zhang Siyu, told The Associated Press. "Only once I was outside did I realize it was an explosion. There was the huge fireball in the sky with thick clouds. Everybody could see it."
Photos showed damage to the area and debris that had rained down on the streets.
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| A man stands near broken glass after a nearby explosion shattered windows of a residential compound. | Credit: Ng Han Guan/Associated Press |
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| A man takes a photo near a drum that residents said was relocated in a massive explosion in Tianjin. | Credit: Ng Han Guan/Associated Press |
Shockwaves from the blasts were felt over six miles away, People's Daily China tweeted. Doors were blown off hinges and windows shattered, even a distance from the epicenter. The news outlet also noted that the first two explosions registered magnitudes of 2.3 and 2.9.
