China - Huge, huge mystery explosion in Tianjin, Northern China, 12 Aug 2015

[gngr~snap]

Got a screen shot from CNN, that is a car a mile away from the epicenter. Wow!

 

[SCHMAE]

China Explosion: Daylight Shows Devastation in Tianjin, At Least 17 Dead
by NBC NEWS and THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


<<snipped>>

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/daylight-shows-scenes-devastation-tianjin-least-17-dead-n408946

Wow, this photo of the cars burned out is very scary. That is a long way from the site and so you can guess any people within that perimeter were badly hurt Prayers for the people of China.

 

[Friday Fan]

The site is 4 years old

Some chemicals will produce toxic gas when wet. And they're letting the blaze burn out on its own.

Officials have not explained precisely how firefighters sought to extinguish the initial blaze. But at least some of the stored chemicals were known to produce flammable gas when wet, raising the possibility that the firefighters might have inadvertently contributed to the disaster if they sprayed the flames with water.

Site was storing cyanide and toluene. (Toxic and scary)

According to the Tianjin Tanggu Environmental Monitoring Station, the company stored a collection of toxic industrial chemicals, including sodium cyanide, toluene diisocyanate and calcium carbide. The company was also licensed to handle highly combustible substances such as compressed and liquefied natural gas.

Local residents have been protesting about the site. As recently as Aug 6th there were meetings and a press release.

Middle-class Chinese, increasingly aware of the perils of chemical plants and storage depots in urban areas, have in recent years organized huge street protests demanding that such facilities be relocated to less populated areas.

In recent weeks, officials with the city&#8217;s Administration of Work Safety met with a number of local chemical companies and asked them to ensure the safety of the substances on their premises, citing summer weather that included &#8220;extreme heat, high humidity and heavy rain,&#8221; according to an Aug. 6 posting on the agency&#8217;s website.

The state media seems to be in censorship mode. The local news channel is playing Korean soaps.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/world/asia/tianjin-china-explosions.html


********************************************

I also read, but I can't remember where that there was fire that preceded the explosion. (Kinda like what happened in at the fertilizer storage facility in West, Texas in 2013)

What a devastating disaster....

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

'Stop the foreigners from reporting': Dramatic moment CNN reporter is attacked by families of victims injured in horrific Chinese warehouse explosions

CNN reporter Will Ripley and his cameraman surrounded by angry mob

Families of blast victims angrily call for reporter to stop filming

Ripley attempts to calm the situation before the footage cuts out

Police intervened and managed to calmly defuse the tense situation


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...inese-warehouse-explosions.html#ixzz3im5vzXc1

 

[Isabelle]

Does anyone else feel there is something suspicious about what really caused the blast? Was it really chemicals or was it some kind of test gone wrong?

 

[CD82]

Does anyone else feel there is something suspicious about what really caused the blast? Was it really chemicals or was it some kind of test gone wrong?

CNN basically took the entire story off their website. I can't find anything about it now.

 

[CarmelEyesD]

No link, but I read somewhere that the chemicals getting wet triggered the explosion. Treat it as my opinion, cause I don't know where the heck I read it now...

 

[bluesneakers]

These images are haunting.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/14/asia/china-tianjin-explosions/

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

I do not wish to derail this thread but...

there is a three alarm fire in Conroe, TX...

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...ng-at-scene-of-chemical-plant-in-conroe-texas

 

[zwiebel]

No link, but I read somewhere that the chemicals getting wet triggered the explosion. Treat it as my opinion, cause I don't know where the heck I read it now...

I've been hearing that mentioned on BBC radio all day - that the firefighters' hoses might actually have triggered the explosion when they were initially fighting the smallish blaze.

 

[zwiebel]

The 'civilians' who attacked the CNN reporter; I don't accept China's statement about that is true. The state has thousands of plainclothes officials who are often drafted in to ensure foreign media and Chinese citizens are watched and/or kept away from certain places.

I think those 'family members' were plainclothes police or military, drafted in to ensure no-one gets to see how the hospitals are crumbling under the pressure of coping with all the wounded. Just my opinion.

 

[zwiebel]

2 days ago, Chinese State Media firmly announced the Tianjin air was safe, even though officials still do not know - or have not said - exactly what the explosives chemicals were. Chinese citizens are banned from using twitter, by the way.

"Still safe to breathe" at scene of #Tianjin dangerous goods blast,authorities address netizens' fear of poisoned air pic.twitter.com/kmeUuISaUb (https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/631635682411216896?s=17)

 

[Indy Anna]

John Deere workers among those injured in China explosion

http://www.radioiowa.com/2015/08/14/john-deere-workers-among-those-injured-in-china-explosion/

 

[JLSChook]

I hope this is okay to post. Just WOW! (profanity warning--but who can blame him). This situation is more dire than anyone is letting on/reporting, IMO.

[video=youtube;ubEZBPj7KOk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=36&v=ubEZBPj7KOk[/video]

 

[KaaBoom]

Does anyone else feel there is something suspicious about what really caused the blast? Was it really chemicals or was it some kind of test gone wrong?

I doubt it. It looks to me like just an explosion in a pile of shipping containers. I can't imagine what tests they would be conducting at a location like that.

 

[JLSChook]

https://twitter.com/SCMP_News

SCMP News &#8207;@SCMP_News 9m9 minutes ago
JUST IN: #TianjinBlast death toll jumps to 85 amid fears of toxic contamination in Chinese port city: state media http://ow.ly/QVIvV

 

[JLSChook]

This witness is the guy that filmed the video that I posted above:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/t...-witness-filmed-dramatic-china-blasts-n409701

Tianjin, China Explosions Like 'Nuclear Bomb': Californian Witness

 

[JLSChook]

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2015-08/15/content_36312759.htm

Information about the storage of dangerous and toxic chemicals has to be made public in certain foreign countries. However, in China, companies do not need to identify and release details of the dangerous chemicals they are storing, which is a major management flaw, said Ma Jun, director of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs, in an exclusive interview with China.org.cn.

Very interesting article about the chemicals possibly stored there and reactions between water and chemicals.

 

[JLSChook]

https://twitter.com/george_chen/with_replies

George Chen &#8207;@george_chen 7m7 minutes ago
More than 300 social media accounts incl on Weibo and WeChat have been suspended due to spreading #TianjinBlast "rumors", state media report

George Chen &#8207;@george_chen 9m9 minutes ago
BREAKING: Chinese authorities started to heavily censor, delete #TianjinBlast related news, info esp about death toll


George Chen &#8207;@george_chen 3m3 minutes ago
Confirmed: An exclusive investigative report by @caixin mag about #TianjinBlast death toll has been deleted by gov on social media WeChat

 

[JLSChook]

https://twitter.com/MotherJones/with_replies

Mother Jones &#8207;@MotherJones 2h2 hours ago
700 tons of cyanide were reportedly stored in the #Tianjin warehouse where explosions started http://bit.ly/1L693cm