FIFTY have been killed and 700 injured - 70 seriously - in a series of toxic chemical gas explosions in the Port of Tianjin the gateway to Beijing, state media reported.
Crumpled shipping containers were tossed about like match boxes, hundreds of new cars were ablaze and port buildings left as burnt-out shells as vast areas of the port - the 10th largest in the world - were devastated, Reuters witnesses said.
A harbour official said the port was operating normally despite the devastation. Tianjin port is the gateway to Beijing and northern China's industrial belt.
But oil tankers and ships carrying "hazardous products" have been barred from docking, Bloomberg reported.
Other shipments were stalled, said the agency. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group said iron ore shipments were disrupted, while another vessel was prevented from loading steel.
The first explosion occurred in a warehouse storing "dangerous and chemical goods" in the port area, at 11.30pm, followed seconds later by another, more powerful blast and a series of smaller explosions, reported GAC Hot Port News.
Damage was reported to be widespread with windows in buildings within a two kilometre radius blown out, office blocks destroyed and hundreds of cars burnt-out.
"Sailings in and out of Tianjin will definitely be affected and heavily delayed. At this point, it is not possible to evaluate the degree of damage suffered by containers and cargo at the port's terminals. Clients with freight at the port are advised to liaise with their insurers," said the GAC advisory.
President Xi Jinping said those responsible should be ¡§severely handled". State media identified the owner of the warehouse as Tianjin Dongjiang Port Ruihai International Logistics.
The company's website said it was a government-approved firm specialising in "dangerous goods". Company officials could not be reached. CCTV said said one person at a "relevant company" had been detained.
Internet videos showed fireballs shooting into the sky and the US Geological Survey registered the blasts as seismic events.
¡§I was sleeping when our windows and doors suddenly shook as we heard explosions outside. I first thought it was an earthquake," Guan Xiang, who lives seven kilometres away, told Reuters.
Mr Guan, 24, said he saw flames and a mushroom cloud in the sky as he and other residents scrambled to get out of his building.
The state-run Beijing News said fire authorities had lost contact with 36 firefighters. Xinhua reported 18 were missing, while 66 were among hundreds of hospitalised.
Xinhua said 1,000 firefighters and more than 140 fire engines were struggling to contain a blaze in a warehouse that held ¡§dangerous goods".
¡§The volatility of the goods means the fire is especially unpredictable and dangerous to approach," Xinhua said.
Anxious residents rushed to hospitals to seek news. Pictures on Chinese media websites showed residents and workers, some bleeding, fleeing their homes.
Xinhua said people had been hurt by broken glass and other flying debris. Authorities told reporters they expected the blasts to have forced 6,000 people from their homes.
Inchcape Shipping Services is advising that all chemical / oil / LPG terminals in Tianjin port have closed following the explosions. Normal operating conditions are continuing for the loading/discharge of bulk and general cargo in Tianjin Xingang port.
WORLD SHIPPING
14 August 2015 - 22:11
Toxic gas explosions hit the Port of Tianjin, killing 50, injuring 700
FIFTY have been killed and 700 injured - 70 seriously - in a series of toxic chemical gas explosions in the Port of Tianjin the gateway to Beijing, state media reported.
WORLD SHIPPING
14 August 2015 - 22:11
Toxic gas explosions hit the Port of Tianjin, killing 50, injuring 700
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