China Blast Zone Evacuated Over Chemical Contamination Fears
TIANJIN, China— New explosions and fire rocked the Chinese port city of Tianjin on 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 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 a total of 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 on Saturday pulled out one survivor from a shipping container, the 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 on 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 (yards), 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 late Wednesday. “Our son is a firefighter, and there was a team of firefighters who lost contact, we couldn’t contact him.”
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