Huge blasts at Chinese port kill 50, injure more than 700

Two huge explosions tore through an industrial area where toxic chemicals and gas were stored in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin, killing at least 50 people, including at least a dozen fire fighters, officials and state media said on Thursday.

At least 700 people were injured, more than 71 seriously, the Tianjin government said on its Weibo microblog, and the official Xinhua news agency said two fires were still burning.

Wednesday night’s blasts, so large that they were seen by satellites in space, sent shockwaves through apartment blocks kilometers 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.

“I was sleeping when our windows and doors suddenly shook as we heard explosions outside. I first thought it was an earthquake,” Guan Xiang, who lives 7 km (4 miles) away from the explosion site, told Reuters by telephone.

Guan, 24, said he saw flames and a mushroom cloud in the sky as he and other residents scrambled to get out of the building.

Tianjin authorities said 12 firefighters were among the 44 killed.

The cause of the blasts was being investigated but Xinhua said several containers caught fire beforehand. Industrial accidents are not uncommon in China following three decades of breakneck economic growth. A blast at an auto parts factory in eastern China killed 75 people a year ago when a room filled with metal dust exploded.

The state-run Beijing News earlier cited Tianjin fire authorities as saying they had lost contact with 36 firefighters. By late afternoon, Xinhua reported 18 were missing, while 66 were among the hundreds of people being treated in nearby hospitals.

Xinhua said 1,000 firefighters and more than 140 fire engines were struggling to contain a blaze in a warehouse that held “dangerous goods”.

“The volatility of the goods means the fire is especially unpredictable and dangerous to approach,” Xinhua said.

Several fire trucks had been destroyed and nearby firefighters wept as they worked to extinguish flames, the Beijing News reported.

President Xi Jinping demanded that authorities “make full effort to rescue and treat the injured and ensure the safety of people and their property”.

Xi said in a statement carried by official media that those responsible should be “severely handled”.

City officials had met recently with companies to discuss tightening safety standards on the handling of dangerous chemicals. The Tianjin Administration of Work Safety posted a notice about the meeting with companies at the port on its website a week ago.

Anxious residents rushed to hospitals to seek news about injured loved ones. Dozens of police guarded the entrance of the TEDA hospital, a Reuters witness said.

Pictures on Chinese media websites showed residents and workers, some bleeding, fleeing their homes. Xinhua said people had been hurt by broken glass and other flying debris. Authorities told reporters they expected the blasts to have forced 6,000 people from their homes by nightfall.

Grey clouds of smoke billowed above the blast site and several trucks carrying paramilitary police – wearing masks to protect them from potentially toxic smoke – headed to the area.

The blasts shattered windows in buildings and cars and knocked down walls in a 2-km radius around the site. Photographs on news websites showed burned-out cars inside a multi-storey car park at a logistics base at the port.

Video posted on YouTube from what appeared to be an apartment building some distance from the scene showed an initial blast followed by a second, much bigger, explosion. Shockwaves hit the building seconds later.

“Our building is shaking. Is this an atomic bomb?” said a frenzied voice inside. (here)

Despite the devastation, the port was operating normally, a port official said. Tianjin port is the gateway to northern China’s industrial belt.

Xinhua said the explosions, the first equivalent to 3 tonnes of TNT and the second to 21 tonnes of TNT, ripped through a warehouse.

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Beijing environmental emergency response center, as well as 214 Chinese military nuclear and biochemical materials specialists, had gone to Tianjin, the news agency said.

It identified the owner of the warehouse as Tianjin Dongjiang Port Ruihai International Logistics. The company’s website said it was a government-approved firm specializing in handling “dangerous goods”. Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to an assessment by government environmental inspectors published in 2014, the facility was designed to store several dangerous and toxic chemicals including butanone, an explosive industrial solvent, sodium cyanide and compressed natural gas.

CCTV said at least one person at a “relevant company” had been detained.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Campbell in TIANJIN, Kazunori Takada, Chen Yixin, Brenda Goh and Sue-Lin Wong in SHANGHAI, and Michael Martina, Jason Subler, Megha Rajagopalan and Judy Hua in BEIJING; Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Paul Tait andNick Macfie)

Two huge explosions tore through an industrial area where toxic chemicals and gas were stored in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin, killing at . . .

Follow Us On Google News | Get Our Newsletter



Trending News on PVDN

  • Where do foreigners come from and where do they live in MexicoMexico City Protest on July 5 Challenges Gentrification and Airbnb’s Impact on Housing Residents of Roma and Condesa will gather at Parque México on July 5 to protest gentrification, rising rents, and Airbnb’s effect on local housing. This Saturday, July 5, Mexico City will witness its first organized citizen protest against gentrification—a peaceful but urgent gathering taking place at 3:30 p.m. at the Lindbergh Forum in Parque México,…
  • raw-sewage-playa-los-muertos-puerto-vallartaMore Raw Sewage Dumping at Playa Los Muertos Appear to Come From Local Hotel Business owners in Puerto Vallarta are demanding action after raw sewage was discovered leaking onto Playa Los Muertos, raising public health and tourism concerns. A raw sewage leak at Playa Los Muertos in Puerto Vallarta has sparked outrage among local tourist service providers and business owners, who say the contamination is driving away visitors and…
  • puerto-vallarta-rainfall-hurricane-flossie-july-2025Puerto Vallarta braces for torrential rains as Hurricane Flossie gains strength Puerto Vallarta faces a high risk of flooding as Hurricane Flossie intensifies in the Pacific. Torrential rains and overwhelmed drainage systems pose major challenges for the city. Puerto Vallarta, a city wedged between the Sierra Madre mountains and the Pacific Ocean, is no stranger to dramatic weather shifts—but this summer, the skies are testing the…
  • puerto vallarta lettersPuerto Vallarta needs a new image to create meaningful reasons for travelers to visit Business leaders at Jalisco Tourism Secretariat forums stressed the need for renewing Puerto Vallarta image and diversifying attractions to appeal to national and international markets. Local business leaders and tourism specialists agreed this week that Puerto Vallarta needs a fresh look and a broader range of attractions to compete at home and abroad. In a…
  • protests3Mexico City Protests: There is a fine line between anti-gentrification and xenophobia The line between anti-gentrification and racism is clear if you choose to see it: genuine activism targets policy and practice, not nationality or ethnicity. I have lived in Mexico for two decades, and I have never witnessed the level of anti-American sentiment that exists today. All of it is tied to the buzzword "gentrification," a…
  • José Luis Velázquez RodríguezSEAPAL Official Reported Missing in Puerto Vallarta Authorities in Puerto Vallarta have launched a search for José Luis Velázquez Rodríguez, SEAPAL's head of transparency, who has been missing since June 30. Family and officials are urging the public to report any information. Local authorities and civil protection units have launched a search operation for José Luis Velázquez Rodríguez, head of the Transparency…
  • puerto-vallarta-police-chase-bahia-de-banderasPuerto Vallarta police chase ends in deadly collision in Bahía de Banderas A Puerto Vallarta police chase along Highway 200 ended in a deadly collision in Bahía de Banderas, leaving two people dead. A high-speed chase that began in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, and ended in Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, left at least two people dead and raised new questions about police engagement and road safety in the…
  • mexico city real estateGentrification in Mexico City is not the reason for the high cost of housing City housing shortage, not gentrification, drives prices skyward as planning lags behind demand and foreigner influence remains minimal. High real estate costs in Mexico City stem from a deep and persistent housing shortage—exacerbated by land constraints, tangled regulations and speculative investment—rather than by the presence of foreign residents. Despite headlines blaming “gentrification,” foreign-born residents make…
  • protestProtest graffiti and smashed windows mars anti-gentrification rally in Mexico City Residents and activists joined an anti-gentrification rally in Mexico Park, but the anti-gentrification rally Mexico Park turned destructive as masked youths defaced local shops and broke windows. A rally against gentrification held yesterday in Mexico City’s Parque México drew residents from Juárez, Roma, Condesa and Hipódromo alongside local activists. Organizers billed it as the city’s…
  • no-damage-jalisco-hurricane-flossieNo Damage Reported in Jalisco as Hurricane Flossie Moves Away While Mexico's Weather Service predicted heavy rains, Hurricane Flossie causes no damage along Jalisco’s coast. The Category 3 storm brings light rain and moderate waves as it moves away from the region. The coasts of Jalisco remain calm and largely unaffected following the passage of Hurricane Flossie, a powerful Category 3 storm that is now…
Scroll to Top