Ministry orders nationwide checks
Print Edition
RESCUE workers yesterday battled to clean up hundreds of tons of cyanide at the site of last week’s huge explosions in northern China, as thousands of personnel were mobilized to search for the missing, clean up toxic chemicals and treat the injured.
The death toll in Tianjin, where a warehouse storing hundreds of tons of toxic chemicals exploded last Wednesday, rose to 114 after two more bodies were found yesterday. The fatalities include 39 firefighters. Seventy people are still missing, including 64 firefighters.
The blasts put hundreds of people in hospital, destroyed thousands of cars and damaged nearby residential buildings.
Xinhua news agency said there had been another small explosion at the site yesterday.
Rescuers yesterday intensified their efforts to clear dangerous chemicals from the blast site as rain forecast for later in the day had the potential to create toxic gas.
The Tianjin environmental watchdog said it was closely monitoring the weather and its possible effect on the toxic material.
Officials said environmental standards were still “basically guaranteed” and there were plans to prevent rain from creating dangerous gases or spreading contamination.
More than 2,000 soldiers and armed police officers have been called to clean up an area with a radius of 3 kilometers around the blast site, said Shi Luze, chief of staff of the Beijing Military Area Command.
Specialist troops with biochemical expertise had finished their search of the core area and had collected all toxic chemicals detected, he said. They also removed toxic chemicals from the soil.
More troops arrived yesterday to clear chemicals scattered around the periphery of the site.
Tianjin Vice Mayor He Shushan told a press conference that all dangerous chemicals at the blast site’s outer area would be eliminated by last night.
A cement dam encircling the blast site would make sure polluted water did not leak to outside areas, He said.
Leading chemical experts and environmental specialists are checking air conditions and nearby rivers to determine if any pollution exceeds national standards.
Meanwhile, rescuers are combing residential quarters and an area of the harbor that they called “a maze of containers” for the 70 people who remain missing.
“Navigating through the blast zone is extremely dangerous because of the burning chemicals and twisted containers, which could collapse at any minute. We had to make marks in order not to get lost,” said Wang Ke, who led a group of chemical specialist soldiers.
“We will keep searching as long as we are ordered to do so,” he said. “In previous searches, we found survivors more than 100 hours after the accident.”
The blasts affected 17,000 households and 1,700 enterprises.
About 6,300 residents have been displaced.
In hospitals across the city, 4,000 doctors and nurses, including some of the country’s leading medical experts, are treating patients injured in the blasts.
As of yesterday morning, 698 people were still in hospital with 57 of them in a critical condition.
“We are using the best of our resources,” said Wang Jiancun, director of the Tianjin Health and Family Planning Commission.
Wang said that 77 people had been discharged from hospital after treatment.
Authorities have ordered nationwide safety checks following the Tianjin blasts.
The directive from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology noted the frequency of fatal workplace incidents and demanded a national inspection of all safety risks with thorough checks on firms dealing with commercial explosives.
Any company found not to have corrected irregularities would be shut and the ministry would “in principle” stop issuing new construction permits for industrial explosives factories, it said.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have been tasked with investigating any possible dereliction of duty and abuse of power that may have contributed to the Tianjin disaster.
“We must thoroughly investigate the incident and hold accountable all those responsible,” Premier Li Keqiang said. “We must give an answer for families of the victims, an answer for all residents of Tianjin, an answer for all Chinese people, and an answer for history.”
The warehouse at the center of the disaster had contained 700 tons of sodium cyanide — a toxic chemical that can form combustible substances on contact with water — in violation of safety rules.
Several hundred tons would be a clear violation of rules that stipulate the warehouse can store no more than 10 tons.
Regulations also require such facilities to be at least 1,000 meters from residences, public buildings and highways.
But maps show the Ruihai International Logistics warehouse within 500 meters of both an expressway and a 100,000-square-meter apartment complex.
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