CHEMICAL experts say firemen may have caused the big explosion in the Port of Tianjin by hosing down a container fire of blazing calcium carbide sparking the massive detonation.
Chemical safety experts told Reuters that calcium carbide reacts with water to create acetylene, a highly explosive gas and that an explosion could be caused if firemen sprayed the blaze with water.
Xinhua reported several containers in the warehouse caught fire before the explosions.
David Leggett, a chemical safety expert based in California, told Reuters that an acetylene explosion could have detonated the ammonium nitrate. Two blasts Wednesday night were about 30 seconds apart, the second much larger than the first.
The death toll has risen to 56, including 21 firefighters, and 750 injured in the mass explosions in the Port of Tianjin, the gateway to Beijing, 150 kilometres away.
The official People's Daily said the dead firefighters were among those trying to extinguish a blaze in one or more containers before two massive warehouse explosions occurred.
But despite the devastation, the port was operating relatively normally, said Reuters. Tianjin port is the gateway to northern China's industrial belt around the national capital.
Reuters said police reported the warehouse was "storing mainly ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and calcium carbide".
Operations at two container terminals in the port of Tianjin have been suspended, reported IHS Maritime News.
IHS country risk analyst David Yang said two container terminals in the Beijiang area of the port where the explosion occurred were confirmed to have been shut down - Cosco Pacific's Wuzhou Five Continents International Container Terminal at the eastern-most end of the Beijiang port area with four berths, and Euroasia International Container Terminal that has three berths.
Euroasia is a joint venture between the Tianjin Port Authority and Maersk's APM Terminals, although a spokesman for APM Terminals said the explosion was three miles from its facility. "No impact to our operations - the port is open and vessels working today," he said.
Said Singapore's PSA International: "Operations at PSA's joint venture container terminals in Tianjin were not affected."
Said Tianjin Port Development: "Currently, port operations of the group are normal."
Stacks of containers also lie scattered. The explosion completely destroyed buildings and blasted the roofs of others. More spectacular, was the total destruction of 10,000 new imported cars bodies charred glass blown out and tyres melted away.
Fires were still burning at the site of two massive explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, some 36 hours after the blasts, which one report claimed were started by a fire in a shipping container.
According to the BBC, Tianjin Port Group Company says dozens of its employees remain unaccounted for, and military chemical experts are said to be testing for toxic gases and rescuers told to wear protective clothing.
Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) advised that all chemical/oil/LPG terminals in the port have closed.
ISS said that it understood the port authority had arranged some unberthing of bulk ships, but there was no schedule for vessels berthing and it was unknown when the terminals would re-open.
Normal operating conditions continued for the loading/discharge of bulk cargo (eg coal, iron ore) and general cargo in Tianjin Xingang port.
ISS Tianjin is operating as normal and will continue to monitor developments and keep its clients updated, the agency said.
ACCIDENTS
16 August 2015 - 21:39
Firemen may have set off Tianjin's explosion with lethal water-chemical mix
CHEMICAL experts say firemen may have caused the big explosion in the Port of Tianjin by hosing down a container fire of blazing calcium carbide sparking the massive detonation.
ACCIDENTS
16 August 2015 - 21:39
Firemen may have set off Tianjin's explosion with lethal water-chemical mix
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