Rescuers work at the explosion site in north China's Tianjin Municipality, Aug. 16, 2015. A total of 112 bodies have been found, and 95 people remained missing, including 85 firefighters, after massive warehouse explosions rocked north China's Tianjin city Wednesday night, officials said at a press conference Sunday morning. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
TIANJIN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A total of 112 bodies have been found, and 95 people remain missing, including 85 firefighters, after Wednesday night's warehouse explosions rocked north China's Tianjin city, officials said at a press conference on Sunday.
Ten more bodies were found on Saturday after the announcement of 104 deaths, according to Gong Jiansheng, vice head of the city's publicity department.
Twenty four victims have been identified, Gong said.
The missing firefighters included 13 in active service, and 72 working for the Tianjin Port Group Co., he added.
Two huge explosions took place in a warehouse for hazardous chemicals at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday following a fire.
Rescuers are cleaning hundreds of tonnes of cyanide at the blast site, most of which was unaffected, said Shi Luze, chief of staff of the Beijing Military Area Command.
Lu said rescuers were using hydrogen peroxide to neutralize the toxins and building cofferdams to enclose the damaged barrels, while trucking away those intact. Only safe levels of harmful gas were detected near the blast site, Lu added.
He said more than 2,000 rescuers are searching and cleaning hazardous chemicals outside the core area of the blast site.
Some military chemical specialists found different types of chemicals, including magnesium particles and sulphur scattered in some buildings near the core area.
Two from the group collected three water samples and three earth samples from a large pool that formed at the center of the blast site. The samples have been handed over to environmental authorities for testing.
Bao Jingling, chief engineer of the city's bureau of environmental protection, said among the 17 monitoring sites outside the "alert zone" (where residents had been evacuated on Saturday), two reported readings of hydrogen cyanide slightly above the normal standards which would not pose threat to health.
As of Saturday night, wastewater collected from the alert zone had been transferred to a local treatment center.
A total of 698 people remained in hospital, including 57 in critical or serious conditions, and 77 others have been discharged. More than 200 medical experts and over 4,000 other health workers are treating the injured.
With bruises on his face, Firefighter Liao Jiancheng spent his 23rd birthday on Aug. 13 at TEDA Hospital. He was among the three who survived the explosions aboard a fire engine, while five others died.
"As soon as he saw me, he said, 'mum, I lost many buddies'," said his mother, "He's lucky, only slightly injured."
The young man from central China's Hunan Province also sustained a broken bone in his foot and bruises on his arms.
Despite the tragedy, Liao said he wants to continue his profession, because he was "loath to part with my comrades-in-arms."
Zhou Ti, a 19-year-old firefighter who was rescued on Friday morning, is in stable condition after being treated in thoracic surgery department of TEDA. He can have liquid food starting from Sunday morning.
Han Fengqun, a 50-something man who was rescued 50 meters away from a burst point on Saturday afternoon, however, is in critical condition for respiratory failure caused by serious lung damage, according to sources with the No.254 hospital in Tianjin.
Related:
Photo >> Aerial view of Tianjin explosion site shot by Xinhuanet drones on Aug. 15
Photo >> Xinhuanet uses drones for aerial shots of Tianjin explosion site
Video >> Xinhuanet drone shoots video clips of Tianjin blast site
Video >> Xinhuanet's aerial drone shoot scenes of blast site in Tianjin
Profound lessons must be learned from Tianjin blasts: Chinese leaders
BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese leaders on Saturday urged authorities to learn from the "extremely profound" lessons paid for with blood as death toll from massive warehouse explosions in Tianjin rose to 104.
In a written instruction, President Xi Jinping said that the Tianjin blasts and a string of serious accidents recently exposed severe problems in the work safety sector, and authorities must always keep "safe development" and "people's interest first" in mind to avoid such accidents. Full story
