Tianjin toll now 135 dead with 38 still missing
Print Edition
THE death toll in the Tianjin hazmat warehouse blast was updated to 135 yesterday, while 38 others remain missing, rescue authorities said.
All the dead have been identified, including 81 firefighters and seven policemen. The missing include 23 firefighters and four policemen.
Hospitals in the northern port city are still treating 582 people injured when a warehouse exploded, with 36 of them in a serious condition, while 216 patients have been allowed home.
Two blasts ripped through the warehouse on August 12. Hundreds of tons of toxic chemicals were stored in the facility, including around 700 tons of sodium cyanide.
The explosions seriously damaged two residential compounds nearby and more than 3,000 new cars in a parking lot close to the site.
Cleanup operations are ongoing and, by yesterday, power supplies had been partially restored to some damaged buildings.
A total of 223 companies have resumed operations and 140 more are expected to restart production soon, local authorities said.
Tianjin Port is operating normally, they added.
Thousands of people affected by the disaster have turned to relatives for shelter or returned to their hometowns. Only 95 people remain in a school used as temporary accommodation.
Police have detained executives of warehouse owners Ruihai International Logistics, including company head Yu Xuewei, former executive at a state-run chemical company, and deputy head Dong Shexuan, son of a former police chief for Tianjin Port.
The central government has promised a thorough investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile, five state-owned property developers in the port city said yesterday that they had formed an alliance to buy back apartments from residents.
They said they would buy blast-hit apartments from willing residents and resell them after renovation.
Powerful shockwaves from the explosions wreaked havoc on residential buildings some 500 to 600 meters from the blast site.
Di Da, chairman of Tianjin Real Estate Group, said the alliance was still working on the details but the local government would evaluate damage and set prices in a way that “does not hurt residents’ interests.”
Di said the environment surrounding the residential complexes would also be renovated.
“The surrounding area of these blast-hit apartment complexes will be revamped with greenery to improve living conditions. There will also be no storage yard, no chemicals at the blast site once it’s all covered in green,” he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
