Massive explosion rocks Chinese city

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Tianjin blast death toll rises to 121, including 67 firefighters in worst disaster for China's first responders

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 22 August, 2015, 7:02pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 22 August, 2015, 7:07pm

Associated Press in Beijing

Rescuers work at the core blast site in Tianjin on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

The death toll has risen to 121 in the chemical warehouse explosion in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin, while another 54 people remain unaccounted for, the city government said Saturday.

Among the dead from the Aug. 12 disaster are 67 firefighters, while another 37 firefighters missing, the government said on its official microblog.

It said that 11 policemen are also among the dead and missing, making it the worst disaster for first responders in recent Chinese history.

People's Liberation Army soldiers from the anti-chemical warfare corps wear protective suits at the blast site on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

The cause of the disaster is still under investigation, although state media reports say the warehouse storing sodium cyanide and other dangerous chemicals was located too close to residential areas and may have obtained falsified safety approvals.

Technicians have detected levels of cyanide as much as 356 times the safe level within a 3-kilometre-radius (1.8-mile-radius) of the evacuated area, although no abnormal contamination was found outside the area.

Small animals such as rabbits, pigeons and chickens have been placed in the disaster zone to test whether it is safe for humans, while workers in hazmat suits clear charred car bodies, crumpled shipping containers and other wreckage from the area.

 

[eatshitndie]

5800 ah neh jaguar and land rover "luxury" vehicles were destroyed at the port city of tianjin. good riddance.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tata-motors-says-had-5-141400023.html

 

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Ten days after Tianjin blasts, nine injured in explosion at chemical plant in eastern China

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 22 August, 2015, 11:38pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 23 August, 2015, 12:08am

Nectar Gan
[email protected]

The explosion occurred at a chemical factory in Dongfu village near Zibo city in Shandong province. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A chemical factory in a village in eastern Shandong province exploded on Saturday night, injuring nine people, local media and police reported.

The blast shattered windows of houses less than a kilometre away.

The explosion occurred at about 8.50pm at a chemical plant owned by Ruixing Chemical in Dongfu village near Zibo city, the Qilu Evening News reported on Weibo.

Zibo city police said nine people were injured.

Six teams of firefighters and 17 fire trucks were sent to the scene and brought the blaze under control by 10.40pm. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The incident occurred just 10 days after a series of blasts at a chemicals factory in Tianjin, 120km east of Beijing, resulted in 121 casualties, including 67 dead firefighters and 54 people still unaccounted for.

In Dongfu on Saturday, a villager said he saw a huge fireball from his backyard and heard two explosions at around 9pm. Another villager said the chemical plant had just gone into production and was still hiring workers.

Rescuers were still cleaning up the debris at the core blast site in Tianjin, north China on Saturday, 10 days after the explosions that drew global attention. Photo: Xinhua

Six teams of firefighters and 17 fire trucks had been sent to the blast site, the News said.

Local media reported that the shock of the blast was felt at least 5km away.

The fire had been brought under control by 10.40pm. Authorities were investigating the cause of the blast.

 

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Hazardous warehouse green lighted despite acknowledging nearby flats, Tianjin safety report found

New explosions rock chemical plant in Shandong as it emerges a consultant was aware of residential area within 1km regulation

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 23 August, 2015, 2:06am
UPDATED : Sunday, 23 August, 2015, 6:55am
Laura Zhou
[email protected]

Military specialists in handling nuclear and biochemical materials decontaminate at a residential community near the core area of the warehouse explosion site in Tianjin. Photo: Xinhua

A safety assessment that gave the green light to the hazardous goods warehouse at the centre of the Tianjin explosions concluded it conformed to government standards, despite acknowledging the location of nearby flats that have since been shown to be contravene such regulations.

The assessment, by consultancy Zhongbin Haisheng, came despite its acknowledgment that a residential area was 970 metres from the warehouse and a highway about 310 metres away. Both distances are within the government's technical guidelines that require medium to large hazardous warehouses to be at least 1km from other public facilities.

In a separate development, explosions at about 8.50pm yesterday shook a chemical plant in Zibo, Shandong province, Xinhua reported. The blasts shattered glass in nearby homes, according to local media, but no casualty figures were available.

Zhongbin Haisheng released its assessment quietly late last week on its reopened website. It had identified 40 safety issues and 24 potential hazards that it said the warehouse operator, Ruihai International Logistics, had corrected after its report.

But none of the problems flagged by the consultancy involved concerns that residential areas were too close, China Youth Daily reported yesterday.

The death toll from the explosions at the Tianjin warehouse on August 12 has risen to 121, including 67 firefighters and seven policemen. A total of 640 people remain in hospital, including 48 critically injured.

Government regulations for hazardous and chemical goods projects require operators to commission qualified consultancies to carry out safety assessments, and submit the reports for port authorities' approval.

A victim of the explosions collects belongings at his damaged home. Photo: AFP

Zhongbin Haisheng was evaluating the conversion of a logistics centre into the hazardous goods warehouse operated by Ruihai. It identified issues including a lack of an emergency response plan by Ruihai, containers being too close together and too few regular emergency drills.

The Daily previously reported that Zhongbin Haisheng was partly owned by Tianjin Fire Research Centre, which is affiliated with the fire services department.

The Tianjin Economic Development Area authority, which administers the area including Ruihai's warehouse, said on its website that Zhongbin was one of two firms qualified to undertake the assessments. A Daily report earlier said there were four.

Xinhua has previously reported that another consultancy had declined to undertake a safety assessment on Ruihai's warehouse, citing concerns over the proximity of nearby residential areas.

But Ruihai's chairman Yu Xuewei sought help from "another consultancy" to secure the safety assessment.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace found similar safety hazards at four other port cities, including Shanghai, Ningbo , Guangzhou and Qingdao , where residential areas are within a few hundred metres of chemical storage facilities.

 

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China detains 12 over Tianjin blasts, accuses officials of dereliction

REUTERS
First posted: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 09:29 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, August 27, 2015 12:04 PM EDT

An aerial picture of the site of explosions at the Binhai new district, Tianjin, China, August 16, 2015. (REUTERS/Stringer)

SHANGHAI - China has formally detained a dozen people over explosions in the city of Tianjin this month that killed at least 145 people, and has accused 11 officials and port executives of dereliction of duty or abuse of power.

Anger over safety standards is growing in China, after three decades of swift economic growth marred by incidents from mining disasters to factory fires, and President Xi Jinping has vowed that authorities will learn the lessons paid for with blood.

News of the detentions came a day after the ruling Communist Party sacked the head of the work safety regulator, a former vice mayor of Tianjin, for suspected corruption, but without making an explicit link to the Aug. 12 chemical blasts.

The chairman, vice-chairman and three deputy general managers of Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics Co Ltd, owner of the warehouse that blew up, were among those who were "criminally detained", the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.

The agency said in an English-language report they had been arrested. In China, criminal detention precedes arrest, which happens only once police level formal charges.

Tianjin Port Holdings, the listed entity of the port's main operator, said it understood from the Xinhua website that its chairman, Zheng Qingyue, was being investigated for dereliction of duty and its vice-chairman was temporarily taking over his duties.

The company was operating normally, it said in a stock exchange statement.

Separately, the state prosecutor said on its website an investigation of the blasts had found officials from a range of agencies to have been irresponsible, negligent and lax in the supervision of Tianjin Ruihai.

Among these agencies were Tianjin's transport, land resources, work safety and customs offices, besides state-owned port companies.

It named 10 officials suspected of dereliction of duty and one suspected of abuse of power.

The death toll from the blasts that flattened part of the port, the world's 10th busiest, has risen to 145 with 28 people still missing, the Tianjin government said on its Weibo social media account.

 

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Nearly 200 people punished in China for 'spreading online rumours' including inflating Tianjin disaster death toll

PUBLISHED : Monday, 31 August, 2015, 1:37pm
UPDATED : Monday, 31 August, 2015, 2:58pm

Agencies

China criminalised the spreading of online rumors two years ago with controversial regulations that stipulated up to three years in jail. Photo: AFP

The authorities in China have punished 197 internet users for “spreading rumours” online, including inflating the number of people killed in the Tianjin explosions disaster and falsely alleging that a man committed suicide over the turmoil in the country’s stock markets, state media reported.

The state-run news agency Xinhua, citing the Public Security Ministry, said 165 online accounts had been closed.

It did not say over what period the punishments were handed out.

One rumour was that a man jumped to his death in Beijing due to the stock market slump.

Another said that at least 1,300 people were killed in the Tianjin blasts. The number confirmed dead by the authorities after the August 12 explosions at a dangerous goods warehouse in the port city is 150.

China criminalised the spreading of online rumours two years ago with controversial regulations that stipulated up to three years in jail for publishing false or defamatory information that is seen by more than 5,000 people or forwarded over 500 times.

Since that time the government has increasingly tightened controls on online expression, with crackdowns often coming around sensitive events, such as this week’s second world war anniversary parade in Beijing.

Critics say the campaign to control online comment is also aimed at suppressing criticism of the ruling Communist Party.

Internet users have “cooked up and disseminated large numbers of rumours and provocative news about terror” related to the country’s plans to mark the anniversary of the war’s end with a military parade on Thursday, the report said.

Others have been punished for circulating claims that relatives of China’s top leaders had “maliciously” sought to drive down stock prices during the country’s recent market turmoil.

A confession from an alleged perpetrator said the man had come up with unspecified fake news as part of a ploy to draw attention to his fruit-selling business.

Punishments were meted out to those whose posts to online newsgroups and social media sites “intentionally stirred up the public, created feelings of panic and misled society”, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.

Associated Press, Kyodo

 

[da dick]

Tianjin blast death toll rises to 121.

obie good. less commies the better. even pinky loon say he hate commies , and support freedom of religious!!!

 

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Tianjin blasts death toll rises to 165, 8 missing

Xinhua, September 11, 2015

The death toll from the massive Tianjin warehouse blasts rose to 165 after remains of one more firefighter were identified, according to authorities on Friday.

Eight people remain unaccounted for, including five firefighters.

A total of 99 firefighters, 11 police officers and 55 civilians died in the blasts.

Two blasts ripped through a warehouse at around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 12 in Tianjin Port, where large amounts of toxic chemicals were stored, including around 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide.

 

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Tianjin starts compensating people injured in blasts

Xinhua 2015-09-16 17:29

The site of last month's deadly explosions in Tianjin, Aug. 31. (File photo/Xinhua)

The government of the northern China of Tianjin has started to compensate people injured in the warehouse explosions that rocked the port city last month, killing at least 165 people, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Six hundred people are eligible for the compensation, which will be awarded according to the severity of the injuries and the degree of impact on the victims' lives, said sources with the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Binhai New Area, where the blasts occurred.

Medical treatment is also free for the injured.

The blasts killed a confirmed total of 165 people, including 99 firefighters and 11 police officers. Eight people, the majority of them firefighters, are still missing. More than 100 of the injured people remain hospitalized.

The family of each deceased firefighter has received 2.3 million yuan (US$360,000) in compensation.

 

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China orders safety hazard cleanup after Tianjin blasts

Xinhua, September 18, 2015

Chinese authorities ordered correction of any irregularities or safety hazards found during the nationwide safety check launched soon after the huge explosions in Tianjin.

The inspection found hazards at 80 sites in 29 of the country's 34 provincial-level regions, including a village in Beijing, the Ministry of Public Security said in a circular.

Among the 80 sites with safety hazards are clustered areas of illegal residential occupants, logistic firms with warehouses, markets, and slums the circular said.

The ministry exposed irregularities in a village of Zhengzhou city in Henan province. With an area of 66.7 hectares, Chenzhai village has a population of 170,000, without any access to a fire department or water supply.

The authorities urged local governments to take effective measures to eliminate all safety hazards at the 80 sites, adding officials will be held accountable if such irregularities are not corrected in time.

Huge explosions occurred at a warehouse in the city of Tianjin on August 12, killing 165 people and devastating the port area.

 

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Tianjin warehouse blasts: Evidence of corruption, says Chinese premier as he vows nobody will be exempt from punishment

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 24 September, 2015, 7:02am
UPDATED : Thursday, 24 September, 2015, 7:02am

A picture taken by a drone on August 13 shows the aftermath of the explosion. Photo: Yu Xiao / Beijing Youth Daily

Investigations into a blast at a chemical warehouse in Tianjin that killed 165 people have uncovered evidence of corruption and dereliction of duty on behalf of officials.

Those found responsible of such wrongdoing would be held fully accountable, whoever they were, Premier Li Keqiang vowed on Tuesday after hearing from the investigation panel.

“Punish those who should be punished, sack those who should be sacked, no exemption for the corrupt,” he said.

“Blood should not be shed in vain.”

Various departments should learn from the accident and improve industrial safety, he added.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presides over a meeting on the investigation of the blasts that occurred in Tianjin. Photo: Xinhua

In a rare move, the investigation panel is being headed by the Ministry of Public Security – usually such panels are headed by the State Administration of Work Safety.

Li’s remarks, which came more than a month since the explosions on August 12, coincided with an announcement by local government of compensation plans for homeowners living near the site.

However, may of the residents say the plans will not be enough to get their lives back on track.

A firefighter truck and workers clean up the centre of the explosions at Binhai new district in Tianjin. Photo: Reuters

About a week after the blasts the government agreed to buy back about 10,000 homes following repeated protests by owners who blamed lax regulations for their loss.

After more than a month of negotiations with owners, Tianjin’s Binhai New Area, where the blast took place, yesterday set compensation levels at 10,000 to 14,000 yuan per square metre for seven residential compounds. Apartments would be bought at 1.3 times the total price.

“The compensation is only enough for smaller houses. Or we have to buy houses 15km from here, where there are no schools or stores,” said Wu Jiang, an owner refusing to sign the agreement. His house at Harbour City is around 800 metres from the blast site. “The negotiation will be tough but we will hold on,” he said. “I can’t afford to lose my lifetime savings.”

Smoke billows from the site in Tianjin. Photo: AP

Average house prices in Binhai New Area climbed more than 12 per cent in September, according to the Bohai Morning Post, making it hard for residents to find a new home nearby.

Staying in a rented apartment 30km away, Wu and his wife face a three-hour bus commute to their offices near the explosion site.

“I don’t know what to do. The problem of settlement haunts me all the time,” Wu said.

In defiance of the official compensation plans, some owners sealed their buildings and now guard the gates.

Rescuers clean up debris at the warehouse explosion site of Tianjin. Photo: Xinhua

“We do this so [repairman sent by the government] can’t come in and destroy evidence,” said Wu Guoqiang, an owner at Vanke’s Jinyu Lanwan development, close to the explosion site.

He believes splashes of unidentified white chemicals and pieces of steel that litter the compound are evidence of damage to their homes. “We want only to buy a house of the same quality,” he said.

Xiang Xiulan, who once joined protests against the government, now sits back and watches at most negotiation sessions. “What can ordinary people like me do?” she said. “People are petitioning and looking for lawyers. What help does it do?”

Powerless as she feels, she still won’t accept the official deal. “Winter is coming. I hope a new solution comes soon.”

Others, tired of the negotiations, are ready to accept the deals. “It can cover what I paid for my house. I’ll just wait for house prices to drop. They are too high at the moment,” said an owner surnamed Duan.

“It’s too tiring arguing with the government.”

 

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Tianjin warehouse owner to compensate blast victims

Xinhua, September 28, 2015

The windows of buildings two kilometers from the Tianjin blast site were severely damaged, raising questions about the use of safety glass. [Photo/China Daily]

Authorities in north China's port city of Tianjin said the wheels have been set in motion to secure compensation from the owner of a warehouse for those affected by two fatal blasts at the site on Aug. 12.

More than 120 injured people, including five who are still in a critical or serious condition, remain in hospital, while 673 others have been treated and discharged, said Zhang Yong, head of the Binhai New Area in Tianjin.

One-hundred-and-sixty-five people died in the explosions, while another eight have never been found. The dead include 110 firefighters and policemen who were killed during the response operation.

The blasts damaged 11,000 houses and affected 414 companies.

The compensation process for the affected residents has begun.

Zhang said Binhai New Area will launch an improvement campaign focusing on safety at companies that deal with dangerous chemicals and goods.

The warehouse is owned by Rui Hai Int. Logistics Co. Ltd., which was founded in 2011.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang last Tuesday urged officials to accelerate the investigation into the blasts, saying that those responsible should be severely punished.

Several company executives and local officials have been arrested.

 

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New warehouse blast hits Tianjin: authorities

AFP
October 13, 2015, 3:26 pm

Beijing (AFP) - A warehouse explosion hit the Chinese port of Tianjin just two months after a massive blast in the city left more than 160 dead, officials said Tuesday.

No-one appeared to have been killed by the blast on Monday evening at a warehouse storing alcohol and other chemicals, district officials said online.

Explosions are common in China, where safety standards are often lax. At the weekend 17 people were killed in Anhui province when a gas canister blew up at a restaurant.

By the early hours of Tuesday morning the Tianjin fire had been put out and no casualties had yet been reported, officials in the city's Beichen district said on social media.

Authorities say a total of 165 people died in massive explosions at a chemical storage facility that devastated a swathe of the northern port in August.

Nearly 100 firefighters were among the dead, in China's worst industrial accident in more than a decade.

Because of its location, the latest explosion became a trending topic early Tuesday on Sina Weibo -- a microblogging service similar to Twitter -- with users posting what they said were images of the blast.

Local authorities said on Sina Weibo that the blast was caused by a company that had illegally rented a warehouse to store chemicals.

The facility had 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds) of alcohol, in close proximity to 1,000 kilograms of acetic acid, used to make plastics, it said.

They added that air pollution measurements were within safe levels and the incident posed no risks to health.

The August explosions and their aftermath raised a host of questions in China about industrial safety, and poor firefighter training.

State media said that well-connected company executives had illegally flouted residential zoning regulations to set up their chemical storage facility.

 

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Tianjin port chief sacked and faces charges after huge blasts that killed more than 160 people

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 04 November, 2015, 4:13pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 04 November, 2015, 4:13pm

Reuters in Shanghai

Zheng Qingyue faces prosecution for dereliction of duty. Photo: SCMP Pictures

China has fired the president of Tianjin Port Group and plans to prosecute him for dereliction of duty, state media said on Wednesday, almost three months after huge chemical blasts at the northern port managed by the firm killed more than 160 people.

Anger over safety standards is growing in China after three decades of swift economic growth marred by incidents from mining disasters to factory fires and President Xi Jinping has vowed that the authorities would learn the lessons paid for with blood.

Zheng Qingyue, who was chairman of the group’s listed unit, Tianjin Port Holdings, will also be removed from his positions at the city’s international trade and shipping service centres, the Tianjin government said on its website.

It was not possible to reach Zheng for comment.

The People’s Daily newspaper, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, said Zheng, his assistant Li Hongfeng, and the deputy chief of the firm’s safety bureau, Zheng Shuguo, would face criminal prosecution for dereliction of duty.

Officials at Tianjin, which is the 10th busiest port in the world, and located not far from the capital, Beijing, had said Zheng was being investigated.

The People’s Daily said government investigations found the port operator’s management had neglected safety oversight duties and blamed it for poor regulation of Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics, which had operated illegally and violated safety rules.

Ruihai Logistics owned the warehouse where the explosions took place and was found to have been handling dangerous chemicals without a licence.

Company executives also told state media they made use of their connections to get fire safety and environmental approvals.

China’s state prosecutor said on Monday it had approved the detention of the former head of the work safety regulator, who was removed shortly after the explosions.

 

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25 probed for deadly blasts in Tianjin

Xinhua, January 26, 2016

China's procuratorate has opened investigations into 25 people suspected of dereliction of duty and abuse of power over the deadly blasts in north China's port city Tianjin last year.

Photo taken on Aug. 27, 2015 shows the burnt vehicle at the core area of the warehouse explosion site in north China's Tianjin. [Photo: Xinhua/Zhu Wei]

Yu Shiping, procurator general with the Tianjin People's Procuratorate, said on Tuesday that police also arrested another 22, including board chairman Yu Xuewei and vice board chairman Dong Shexuan of Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics Co. Ltd., owner of the hazardous materials warehouse that exploded.

"The accident reflected loopholes in production safety in Tianjin. We have learned our lesson," said Huang Xingguo, mayor of Tianjin.

On Aug. 12, two explosions ripped through a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals and residences at Tianjin Port. The blasts claimed 173 lives, including 104 firefighters.

 

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Tianjin blasts: Investigators urge punishment for five top officials

Official report into disaster blames party committees and government departments over safety failures that led to deadly warehouse blasts

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 06 February, 2016, 12:28am
UPDATED : Saturday, 06 February, 2016, 12:28am

Jun Mai
[email protected]

An aerial view of a large hole in the ground in the aftermath of a huge explosion that rocked the port city of Tianjin. Photo: EPA

In a rare move, Chinese authorities are expected to punish five ministerial-level officials for a massive blast at a Tianjin warehouse in August that claimed 165 lives, with the release on Friday of the official report into the explosion.

Eight people are still missing and another 798 were injured in the disaster. The explosion also damaged 304 buildings, 12,428 cars, and 7,533 containers, resulting in 6.87 billion yuan (HK$8.14 billion) in losses, the report by the country’s top industry safety watchdog said.

The August 12 blast in Binhai New District ignited fierce criticism over the storage of hazardous chemicals in a warehouse less than 1km from the closest residential building. Many blamed lax regulations for the huge loss of lives and property.

The blast was triggered when nitrocellulose stored at the warehouse belonging to Ruihai International Logistics overheated and self-ignited, the report said.

Local Communist Party committees and government departments did not strictly enforce the law or effectively monitor the storage of chemicals at the warehouse, the report said.

It suggested that five ministerial officials be given administrative punishments ranging from warnings to demotions. The officials include a deputy transport minister, a deputy director of the national customs agency, two deputy mayors of Tianjin and Binhai’s party boss.

Twenty-five officials, with agencies ranging from safety regulators, to customs and urban planning departments, had been detained or arrested, it said. Another two dozen from the logistics company and safety assessment agencies would face criminal charges.

In previous major safety incidents, few ministerial officials were punished or indicted. Administrative punishments were handed to 11 cadres after poor safety preparations led to the deaths of 36 people in the Shanghai New Year’s Eve stampede in 2014.

Another fire at a residential building in Shanghai in 2010, which killed 58 people, resulted in charges against 26 people, none of whom were regulators. The report into that incident concluded the fire was caused by a construction company’s violation of safety rules, despite widespread public opinion that regulators should also be blamed.

The Tianjin transport commission approved the storage of hazardous chemicals before Ruihai passed safety and environment assessments, the report said. Several safety assessors, colluded with the company, cooking up safety reports and “deliberately concealed safety problems”, it said.

The explosion polluted the air, water and soil, the report said, contradicting to the official line shortly after the disaster. Within 13 days, airborne pollutants from the blast had exceeded emission standards as far as 5km from the explosion site.

Some pollutants were five times higher than maximum limits. The level of pollutants returned to normal as late as early September, almost one month after the blast, it said. The pollutants include highly toxic hydrogen cyanide.

 

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Deadly Tianjin warehouse explosion: review leads to China moving 10 chemical plants

PUBLISHED : Monday, 15 February, 2016, 1:14pm
UPDATED : Monday, 15 February, 2016, 1:19pm

Associated Press

An aerial view of a large crater in the aftermath of a huge explosion that rocked the port city of Tianjin last August. Photo: EPA

Authorities in the Chinese city of Tianjin are to relocate 10 chemical plants that were found to be too close to residential areas – six months after a devastating chemical accident killed 173 people.

State media reports said the Work Safety Bureau of Tianjin’s Binhai New Area had carried out a review of 583 chemical companies and found problems at 85 plants.

READ MORE: Punishment looms for Tianjin explosion executives

The area suffered one of China’s worst industrial accidents on August 12 when a warehouse storing combustible chemicals exploded less than 1km away from apartments – the legally required distance.

The bureau’s news office chief said on Monday that the 10 plants were close to residential areas, although he did not specify if they were within 1km of residential buildings.

He said the remaining 75 chemical plants were not near residential areas.

Chinese authorities are expected to punish five ministerial-level officials over the disaster, which left another 798 people injured. Two blasts at the warehouse also damaged 304 buildings, 12,428 cars, and 7,533 containers, resulting in 6.87 billion yuan (HK$8.14 billion) in losses.

The accident ignited fierce criticism over the storage of hazardous chemicals in the warehouse. Many have blamed lax regulations for the huge loss of lives and property.