4 fires reported in area close to Tianjin blasts
Print Edition
FOUR new fires have broken out in Tianjin at the site where two huge blasts last week killed at least 116 people, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday, soon after officials said safety hazards were found at almost 70 percent of companies handling dangerous chemicals in Beijing.
The explosions in a warehouse storing chemicals devastated an industrial park in Tianjin late on August 12. More than 700 people were injured and thousands were evacuated.
Xinhua said yesterday that crews were rushing to the site after four new fires broke out. It said one of them was in a logistics site for cars near last week’s blasts.
The other three were within the central blast area, it said, without giving any explanation of the cause of the fires.
The news agency also said the death toll rose to 116 yesterday, from a previously reported 114, adding that 60 people are still missing.
Authorities have confirmed that more than 700 tons of the deadly chemical sodium cyanide were stored at the Tianjin warehouse that blew up.
Meanwhile, chemical-hazard experts have accelerated the cleanup operation at the core area of the Tianjin industrial accident, a senior local official told a press conference yesterday.
So far, 200 tons of sodium cyanide have been collected and removed from the site, Tianjin Vice Mayor Wang Hongjiang said, adding that the team will soon focus on processing metallic sodium and magnesium.
A total of 3,060 tons of polluted water in the core blast area has been removed from the area and treated, he said.
The water supply was cut off immediately after the explosions to ensure tap water was unaffected, Wang said, adding that sewage pipes and channels have also been blocked off over concerns that rain may undo the cleanup efforts.
Contamination at the core blast area is now under control, and the surrounding area is safe, he said.
The density of air pollutants in the core area has declined, cyanide levels in samples from rivers and the offshore sea area are under toxic levels, and air quality in the surrounding area is normal, Deng Xiaowen, head of Tianjin environment monitoring center, told the press conference.
He attributed the huge number of dead fish along the banks of the Haihe River to an oxygen deficiency, ruling out the possibility of poisoning.
In the wake of last week’s fatal blasts in Tianjin, the government ordered nationwide inspections of facilities handling dangerous chemicals and explosives.
Since then, more than 100 firms across seven provinces have been told to suspend operations or shut down due to safety violations.
They include 19 in Hubei Province, 26 in Anqing, Anhui Province, 39 in Zhejiang Province and two in Beijing.
In the capital alone, an inspection of 124 sites that stored dangerous chemicals found hazards at 85, Xinhua reported late on Thursday, citing Beijing’s work safety bureau.
The State Council said in a statement on Thursday that advanced equipment and the best expertise must be used to prevent major environmental incidents in the future.
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