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China blast death toll rises to 104, evacuations ordered
The death toll from giant chemical explosions in the Chinese port of Tianjin has reached 104, the Xinhua news agency says, as residents in the area are evacuated over fears of cyanide contamination.
Residents
within three kilometres of the blast site were being moved away from
the site.
A
days-long fire intensified at the hazardous goods storage facility
with a series of new explosions sending thick black smoke into the
air on Saturday.
The
official Xinhua news agency said the death toll had climbed from 85
to 104, quoting local officials.
According
to rescue headquarters, 722 people had been hospitalised, 58 of whom
are in a critical oserious condition. Twenty-one firefighters were
among the dead, authorities say.
The
evacuations came after an apparent change in wind direction, and as
police confirmed the highly toxic chemical sodium cyanide was found
near the site.
A
man was found alive 50m from the blast core, Xinhua news agency said.
The
decision to relocate anyone within three kilometres of the site came
despite official assurances the disaster had not released dangerous
levels of toxic substances into the environment.
However,
Xinhua said area residents had been evacuated "in fear of
chemical pollutants in the air".
The Beijing
News said armed police were carrying out the evacuation
after sodium cyanide was found at the site.
At
a barrier on the edge of the evacuation zone, masks were distributed
to emergency personnel and police turned back anyone else, as at
least 20 fire engines streamed in.
Officials
said earlier that specialists from sodium cyanide producers were
being sent in to the devastated industrial area.
Reports
have said there could have been as much as 700 tonnes of the
substance - exposure to which can be fatal - at the site.
Soldiers
trained in anti-chemical warfare techniques were also deployed.
'Profound' safety lessons
Three
days after the gigantic explosions sent
a huge fireball into the sky and left a vast swathe of destruction,
President Xi Jinping issued a statement warning authorities to learn
the "extremely profound" safety lessons highlighted by the
tragedy.
He
said the blasts and a recent string of accidents had "exposed
severe problems in the work safety sector".
Authorities
have struggled to identify the substances present at the scene.
At
a news conference, Tianjin work safety official Gao Huaiyou listed a
host of possible substances that may have been at the site at the
time of the explosions.
Furious
victims' relatives railed against officials outside a news conference
Saturday over the lack of transparency and information.
"Nobody
has told us anything, we're in the dark, there is no news at all,"
screamed one middle-aged woman, as she was dragged away by security
personnel.
The People's
Daily said earlier that the facility's construction "clearly
violated" safety rules, in particular those that require
warehouses stocking dangerous materials to be at least 1km from
surrounding public buildings and main roads.
More than 360 social media accounts have been shut down or suspended for "spreading rumours" about the blasts, Xinhua reported, citing the Cyberspace Administration of China.
-
AFP / BBC
Drone Footage of Massive Explosion Site in Tianjin, China
Sodium
cyanide leak feared after China explosion
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