P!
Just what the heck were they doing there ?
What a series of events. Firemen put water on a small fire, which then reacts with calcium carbide to make acetylene, which explodes, setting off ammonium nitrate which then scatters cyanide.
I’m no big fan of commie China, but hate to see such suffering from blameless civilians. Pretty messed up stuff.
““orders from higher authorities”
Dang, they have them there too?
Just the ultimate result of Ayn Randian business practices. The libertarians would love to be able to operate like the Chinese.
More:
There were about seven small explosions in the area on Saturday, according to a post on the micro-blog of CCTV. A fresh blaze ignited cars in a parking lot next to the blast site. The cause was not immediately clear. State media carried reports of other fires in the area.
Also, mention is made of rescued firefighter. Here is footage specifically of that claim...
Seems unlikely given the blasted remains surrounding the surviving fire fighter in that imagery. The shoe-less nearly naked survivor is lying betwixt smouldering scorched metal sheets with barely a scratch or visible burn on him. Perhaps he was knocked silly, stripped from his gear and wandered around until he collapsed.
*****
FWIW:
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""...state media have reported. Several others are still missing. The blast occurred at a port warehouse owned by the 4-year-old Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics company. State-run media said that the facility held "dangerous materials," possibly including the chemical calcium carbide, which reacts violently to water.Yet when firefighters were called to the warehouse at 10:50 on Wednesday night, they attempted to douse a fire there with water cannons, according to several reports in Chinese media. Minutes later, two blasts lighted up the sky that together had the force of 53 Tomahawk cruise missiles exploding, state-run media reported.
Beijing has dispatched 200 hazardous-chemical specialists -- many of them in full protective suits and gas masks -- to investigate the cause of the blast.
One firefighter told the liberal newspaper Southern Weekend that his brigade was never warned against the use of water.
Propaganda authorities required local media outlets to use "only copy from Xinhua [news service] and authoritative departments and media," according to a censorship directive leaked to the news website China Digital Times. Officials said at a news conference Friday that even the names of the chemicals in the warehouse "cannot be determined at the moment," contradicting previous reports.
The Southern Weekend report has been taken offline."
"More exploding Hyundias? Hope mine doesn't." -McGruff
"Hyundai is Korean." - shibumi
"Huge explosions at a warehouse in Tianjin, China, have destroyed cars worth about 160 billion won ($136 million) from Hyundai Motor, Korea's top car maker, according to sources, Friday."About 4,000 Hyundai Motor-branded cars were at the site," an industry official said.
"They were all luxury models such as Genesis sedans. Assuming that all stacked cars were burnt, total losses will go up to 160 billion won."
**** ShanghaiDaily: FLASH: DEATH TOLL RISES TO 104 FROM TIANJIN BLASTS
Sodium cyanide "possibly stored" at Tianjin blast site
TIANJIN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Investigators looking into Wednesday's explosion in Tianjin believe sodium cyanide may have been stored at the site.
At a press conference Saturday morning, Gao Huaiyou, vice head of the Tianjin bureau of work safety, said that chemicals stored in the warehouse possibly include sodium cyanide, but further confirmation is needed. The containers were not open, and some were not even registered. Full story
Tianjin blasted warehouse on fire again
TIANJIN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The warehouse in Tianjin, which was destroyed by an explosion on Wednesday night, was on fire again Saturday morning.
Flames were seen at 11:40 a.m., and Xinhua reporters heard several blasts. Dense smoke could be seen at the site.Full story
Death toll rises to 85, residents evacuated from Tianjin blasts
TIANJIN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Death toll rose to 85 as of Friday night, including 21 firemen, from the massive warehouse explosions hitting north China's Tianjin City Wednesday night, the rescue headquarters said Saturday.
Meanwhile, 721 others were hospitalized, including 25 critically wounded and 33 in serious condition. Full story
Looking at the pictures of the wide area of devastation I would guess it is going to get much higher - even if it is just off shift workers and security guards. The first known deaths are probably the firefighters.
I remember reading about NVA in I Corps in RVN that were found wandering around after somehow surviving the concussive force of an Arclight strike. Deaf, naked, bleeding out the orifices and crazy. Wonder what kind of shape he's in.
KERRY: (to Hassan Rouhani) “Sorry buddy, that shipment of nuclear components from China didn’t work out, we’ll try North Korea”
I bet way more than 85 dead.