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| Tianjin Explosions Raise Questions Over Storage of Dangerous Chemicals | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| TIANJIN, China — This bustling port city a 90-minute drive from the Chinese capital awoke on Thursday to scenes of devastation — huge gray plumes of smoke, vast parking lots of burned-out vehicles, block after block of high-rises with their windows blown out — and unanswered questions about what caused a pair of enormous explosions whose terrifying fury was broadcast around the world. | TIANJIN, China — This bustling port city a 90-minute drive from the Chinese capital awoke on Thursday to scenes of devastation — huge gray plumes of smoke, vast parking lots of burned-out vehicles, block after block of high-rises with their windows blown out — and unanswered questions about what caused a pair of enormous explosions whose terrifying fury was broadcast around the world. |
| As the death toll climbed to 50 from the blasts on Wednesday night, rescue workers combed the rubble of the city’s flattened warehouse district for bodies while hundreds of people crowded hospitals. Throughout the day, hundreds more lined up to donate blood in the wilting heat. | As the death toll climbed to 50 from the blasts on Wednesday night, rescue workers combed the rubble of the city’s flattened warehouse district for bodies while hundreds of people crowded hospitals. Throughout the day, hundreds more lined up to donate blood in the wilting heat. |
| The blasts, at a company licensed to store a witches’ brew of hazardous chemicals, left more than 500 people injured, 52 of them critically, and produced shock waves felt for miles. | The blasts, at a company licensed to store a witches’ brew of hazardous chemicals, left more than 500 people injured, 52 of them critically, and produced shock waves felt for miles. |
| Many of the injured were hit by flying glass and other debris as thousands of apartment windows blew in, some more than a mile from the site of the explosions. | Many of the injured were hit by flying glass and other debris as thousands of apartment windows blew in, some more than a mile from the site of the explosions. |
| At least 12 of the dead were firefighters who had responded to earlier reports of a blaze at Ruihai International Logistics, a four-year-old company that unloads and stores hazardous cargo, the state news media and government officials said. | At least 12 of the dead were firefighters who had responded to earlier reports of a blaze at Ruihai International Logistics, a four-year-old company that unloads and stores hazardous cargo, the state news media and government officials said. |
| On Thursday afternoon, fires at the site continued to produce a steady cloud of smoke after Tianjin officials, unsure about the nature of the chemicals, decided to let the blazes burn out on their own. | On Thursday afternoon, fires at the site continued to produce a steady cloud of smoke after Tianjin officials, unsure about the nature of the chemicals, decided to let the blazes burn out on their own. |
| Residents of the Binhai district, frustrated by the lack of reliable information, said they were unsure whether it was safe to breathe the air, and many people continued to wear disposable face masks throughout the day. | Residents of the Binhai district, frustrated by the lack of reliable information, said they were unsure whether it was safe to breathe the air, and many people continued to wear disposable face masks throughout the day. |
| “Right now we don’t know anything,” said Sun Meirong, 52, an office cleaner who trudged down 13 flights of stairs to safety with her 1-year-old grandson after the explosions blew in the windows and front door of her apartment. | “Right now we don’t know anything,” said Sun Meirong, 52, an office cleaner who trudged down 13 flights of stairs to safety with her 1-year-old grandson after the explosions blew in the windows and front door of her apartment. |
| Ruihai’s website was inaccessible, and calls to the company were met with a busy signal. Also inaccessible was the website for the Tianjin Administration for Industry and Commerce, the agency that collects information about companies, their executives and shareholders. In a social media post, the agency said the blast had forced it to close down temporarily. | Ruihai’s website was inaccessible, and calls to the company were met with a busy signal. Also inaccessible was the website for the Tianjin Administration for Industry and Commerce, the agency that collects information about companies, their executives and shareholders. In a social media post, the agency said the blast had forced it to close down temporarily. |
| According to the Tianjin Tanggu Environmental Monitoring Station, the company stored a collection of toxic industrial chemicals, including sodium cyanide, toluene diisocyanate and calcium carbide. The company was also licensed to handle highly combustible substances such as compressed and liquefied natural gas. | According to the Tianjin Tanggu Environmental Monitoring Station, the company stored a collection of toxic industrial chemicals, including sodium cyanide, toluene diisocyanate and calcium carbide. The company was also licensed to handle highly combustible substances such as compressed and liquefied natural gas. |
| In a statement on Thursday, Greenpeace warned that many of the substances posed worrying threats to human health. It said that sodium cyanide, a compound used in mining, is especially toxic, while toluene diisocyanate, used in the making of polyurethane products, is a known carcinogen and highly explosive. | In a statement on Thursday, Greenpeace warned that many of the substances posed worrying threats to human health. It said that sodium cyanide, a compound used in mining, is especially toxic, while toluene diisocyanate, used in the making of polyurethane products, is a known carcinogen and highly explosive. |
| With rain forecast for Friday, Greenpeace warned about the danger of airborne pollutants seeping into local groundwater supplies. | With rain forecast for Friday, Greenpeace warned about the danger of airborne pollutants seeping into local groundwater supplies. |
| The disclosure that dangerous chemicals were stored less than a mile from dense residential areas raised questions about the government’s role in monitoring operations at the site. | The disclosure that dangerous chemicals were stored less than a mile from dense residential areas raised questions about the government’s role in monitoring operations at the site. |
| Middle-class Chinese, increasingly aware of the perils of chemical plants and storage depots in urban areas, have in recent years staged huge street protests demanding that such facilities be relocated to less populated areas. | Middle-class Chinese, increasingly aware of the perils of chemical plants and storage depots in urban areas, have in recent years staged huge street protests demanding that such facilities be relocated to less populated areas. |
| It appears that officials in Tianjin were aware of the risks. In recent weeks, officials with the city’s Administration of Work Safety met with a number of local chemical companies and asked them to ensure the safety of the substances on their premises, citing summer weather that included “extreme heat, high humidity and heavy rain,” according to an Aug. 6 posting on the agency’s website. | It appears that officials in Tianjin were aware of the risks. In recent weeks, officials with the city’s Administration of Work Safety met with a number of local chemical companies and asked them to ensure the safety of the substances on their premises, citing summer weather that included “extreme heat, high humidity and heavy rain,” according to an Aug. 6 posting on the agency’s website. |
| During a news conference on Thursday afternoon, Wen Wurui, a senior environmental official, played down the threat of contaminated air, saying emission readings in the city had dropped to safe levels in the hours after the initial blasts. | During a news conference on Thursday afternoon, Wen Wurui, a senior environmental official, played down the threat of contaminated air, saying emission readings in the city had dropped to safe levels in the hours after the initial blasts. |
| “The pollution will mostly spread to the Bohai Sea, and it will have no effect on Beijing,” he said, referring to waters east of Tianjin. | “The pollution will mostly spread to the Bohai Sea, and it will have no effect on Beijing,” he said, referring to waters east of Tianjin. |
| As the extent of the disaster became apparent on Thursday, government officials moved quickly to control the flow of information. Comments on social media criticizing the government were promptly deleted, and for much of the day, the city’s main news channel played Korean soap operas, prompting ridicule on social media. | As the extent of the disaster became apparent on Thursday, government officials moved quickly to control the flow of information. Comments on social media criticizing the government were promptly deleted, and for much of the day, the city’s main news channel played Korean soap operas, prompting ridicule on social media. |
| One man who claimed to be an employee of the channel, Tianjin TV, took the rare step of openly castigating the government on social media. The man said that the station had sent 100 reporters into the field but that the authorities had insisted that only reports from central government news outlets like CCTV be used. | One man who claimed to be an employee of the channel, Tianjin TV, took the rare step of openly castigating the government on social media. The man said that the station had sent 100 reporters into the field but that the authorities had insisted that only reports from central government news outlets like CCTV be used. |
| In another posting, Yang Anyi, a local university student, ridiculed broadcasts that featured government officials, including Tianjin’s mayor, Huang Xingguo, and President Xi Jinping, who urged rescue workers to wage an “all-out effort” to save the injured and contain the fire. | In another posting, Yang Anyi, a local university student, ridiculed broadcasts that featured government officials, including Tianjin’s mayor, Huang Xingguo, and President Xi Jinping, who urged rescue workers to wage an “all-out effort” to save the injured and contain the fire. |
| “Why the hell give him such big coverage while he is not the one who got injured!” she wrote. | “Why the hell give him such big coverage while he is not the one who got injured!” she wrote. |
| The Tianjin Internet Police issued a warning that those who spread rumors about the accident would be “severely dealt with according to the law.” | The Tianjin Internet Police issued a warning that those who spread rumors about the accident would be “severely dealt with according to the law.” |
| On the streets of Binhai, tensions seemed to rise with the stifling August heat. At Taida Hospital, where scores of the injured were taken, grieving relatives assaulted foreign journalists, and some residents criticized what they said was an inadequate government response. | On the streets of Binhai, tensions seemed to rise with the stifling August heat. At Taida Hospital, where scores of the injured were taken, grieving relatives assaulted foreign journalists, and some residents criticized what they said was an inadequate government response. |
| “There were two or three thousand people living in that neighborhood, and they could have been notified earlier to evacuate,” said Wang Dong, 55, a taxi driver who sustained a head injury when the door of his apartment blew off its hinges. “I’m not sure why they did nothing at all to alert us.” | “There were two or three thousand people living in that neighborhood, and they could have been notified earlier to evacuate,” said Wang Dong, 55, a taxi driver who sustained a head injury when the door of his apartment blew off its hinges. “I’m not sure why they did nothing at all to alert us.” |
| At Qihang Jiayuan, a forest of 30-story apartment buildings, a wearied security guard argued with residents desperate to check on their apartments as a dog, perhaps separated from its owners, ambled anxiously along the glass-strewn boulevard. | At Qihang Jiayuan, a forest of 30-story apartment buildings, a wearied security guard argued with residents desperate to check on their apartments as a dog, perhaps separated from its owners, ambled anxiously along the glass-strewn boulevard. |
| Many residents said they would stay with relatives in other parts of the city, but Wang Jinxue, 55, a laborer from nearby Hebei Province, said he was unsure where to go because the blasts had destroyed the company dormitory where he lived. | Many residents said they would stay with relatives in other parts of the city, but Wang Jinxue, 55, a laborer from nearby Hebei Province, said he was unsure where to go because the blasts had destroyed the company dormitory where he lived. |
| Dressed only in his underwear, a bandage wrapped around his head, he stared blankly when asked where he was headed. “I’ve got to go find my fellow workers,” he said before limping off. | Dressed only in his underwear, a bandage wrapped around his head, he stared blankly when asked where he was headed. “I’ve got to go find my fellow workers,” he said before limping off. |