PO BAG 1: port

14 August 2015

Firefighter rescued from blast zone in China's Tianjin port

In this photo taken Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, a man walks past the charred remains of new cars at a parking lot near the site of an explosion at a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality. Rescuers have pulled a survivor from an industrial zone about 32 hours after it was devastated by huge blasts in China’s Tianjin port. Meanwhile, authorities are moving gingerly forward in dealing with a fire still smoldering amid potentially dangerous chemicals.

Rescuers pulled out a firefighter who was trapped for 32 hours after responding to a fire and huge explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin as authorities moved forward gingerly Friday in dealing with a fire still smoldering amid potentially dangerous chemicals.

A rapid succession of explosions late Wednesday — one equal to 21 tons of TNT — killed at least 56 people, injured more than 720 and left several firefighters missing. They were sparked by a fire at what authorities said were shipping containers containing hazardous material. They struck a mostly nonresidential warehouse district late at night — otherwise the death toll could have been much higher.

13 August 2015

At least 44 dead as huge warehouse blasts hit Chinese port

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, smoke rise from the site of explosions from a nearby building in the Binhai New Area in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015. Huge explosions in the warehouse district sent up massive fireballs that turned the night sky into day in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials and witnesses said Thursday.

Huge explosions in a warehouse district sent up massive fireballs that turned the night sky into day, killing at least 44 people and injuring hundreds in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials and witnesses said Thursday.

Twelve of the dead were from among the more than 1,000 firefighters sent to fight the blaze set off by the explosions shortly before midnight, the Tianjin municipal government said. It said 520 people were being treated in hospitals, 66 of them with serious injuries. It gave no figure for the missing.