(Reuters) — The devastated port city of Tianjin woke up in the morning on Friday (August 14) as search and rescue efforts continued after huge explosions hit the city, killing at least 50 with hundreds injured.
Black smoke was still seen at the site of blasts while the search and rescue operation was underway.
Investigators searched for clues on Friday to identify what caused two huge explosions at a warehouse used to store toxic chemicals and gas at the busy port, as foreign and local companies assessed the damage to their operations.
The explosions at the port, the world’s 10th largest, were so big they were seen by satellites in space and registered on earthquake sensors.
The warehouse was designed to store dangerous and toxic chemicals, according to an assessment by environmental inspectors published in 2014. It was storing mainly ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and calcium carbide at the time of the blasts, according to the police.
A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Beijing environmental emergency response centre, as well as 214 Chinese military nuclear and biochemical materials specialists, had gone to Tianjin, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Several thousand residents were moved to 10 nearby schools after apartment buildings and homes were damaged, mainly by shockwaves from the explosions, it said. Two fires were still burning late on Thursday.
Vast areas of the port were devastated, crumpled shipping containers were thrown around like match sticks, thousands of new cars were torched and port buildings reduced to burnt-out shells, Reuters witnesses said.