Explosions in Tianjin, China

[foophil]

Some massive explosions happened earlier in Tianjin, China. At least 7 dead and hundreds injured. Amazing that more aren't dead, though some are still missing (including two firefighters):

http://en.people.cn/n/2015/0813/c90000-8935126.html

Here is a video of the explosion from a few different angles to give a sense of just how BIG this was:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GySkfZGlpzs

I wonder what it was that blew up. Crazy....

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

China's Xinhua reported that the explosion was caused by inflammables and explosives at a container terminal, and CCTV quoted police saying it took place at a facility operated by Tianjin Rui Hai International Logistics—a firm that transports hazardous materials.

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/12/explosion-in-tianjin-china.html

 

[foophil]

Hazardous materials and large explosions are never a good mix for those nearby.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Hazardous materials and large explosions are never a good mix for those nearby.

China's going through their Wild West era when it comes to safe materials handling. They're making all the mistakes we made, but faster and bigger.

 

[Wolfman]

7 dead is almost certain to be just a preliminary figure, news here is predicting many more.

Terrible news to wake up to, has the country in shock. Rumors everywhere. Whoever the owner is of the company responsible is almost certainly going to be facing the death penalty.

 

[steve s]

Given the size of the explosions, all the evidence (and witnesses) of the cause were probably vaporized.

Steve S

 

[Wolfman]

The worst thing about this is the way the explosions played out. A smaller (but still quite large) explosion that woke up tons of people, and started a rather large fire. So people rushed outside, or to their windows, to look at it. Then a larger explosion (which reports are saying was equivalent to 21 tons of TNT) sent out a massive shock wave that shattered glass. Reports indicate that a significant number of the hundreds of injuries are from flying glass and other debris from the shock wave. It was so powerful that it blew out windows several kilometers from the blast itself. Had people still been in bed (this happened at night), there would have been quite a few less injuries.

The rumor mill is already going crazy, with the leading theory being that this is the work of Muslim separatist terrorists from Xinjiang province (who have bombed buses and carried out attacks on public venues)...but there's zero evidence for that. No claims taking credit for this, nothing from the police or gov't indicating any such kind of suspicion.

Everywhere I go, everyone's on their phones or tablets watching videos of the explosion.

 

[Wolfman]

Count is up to 44 dead, over 400 injured. And still expected to increase.

 

[Elagabalus]

sorry wrong thread!


Well as long as I'm here. This is a strange site:

http://en.people.cn/n/2015/0813/c90000-8935126.html

And whilst there I noticed this headline:

http://en.people.cn/n/2015/0807/c90000-8932835.html

Something about the idiom just ain't quite right ...

 

[gumboot]

It looks pretty nasty. Photographs taken after daybreak show piles of shipping containers thrown about like confetti, crumpled like they're made of cardboard. That's some serious forces at play.

 

[Andy_Ross]

James Bond at work.

 

[angrysoba]

This looks horrific. I think Wolfman is correct that these early casualty tolls don't mean a lot given the amount of destruction. It will take time to find out the extent of the tragedy.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

7 dead is almost certain to be just a preliminary figure, news here is predicting many more.

Terrible news to wake up to, has the country in shock. Rumors everywhere. Whoever the owner is of the company responsible is almost certainly going to be facing the death penalty.

Thanks for checking in. I was wondering what the news was where you are.

First thing I thought of was the Texas City Explosion where ammonium nitrate onboard a ship in dock exploded.

 

[catsmate]

Thanks for checking in. I was wondering what the news was where you are.

First thing I thought of was the Texas City Explosion where ammonium nitrate onboard a ship in dock exploded.

Mine was the Fort Stikine but that's because I did a thread on it and it pops to mind when I hear of these disasters.

 

[malicus]

One pic of the aftermath. Devastating.

https://i.imgur.com/mLhcUX6.jpg

 

[NoahFence]

Let the free market take care of this. Who needs regulations?

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Let the free market take care of this. Who needs regulations?

Yeah, watching containers streak across the sky in all directions is fun. But the key "free market" thing here might be the 4,000 imported cars that were destroyed. That means somebody gets to make 4,000 more cars. Labor for the laborers, profit for the profiteers. Don't get no better than that.

 

[elgarak]

Yeah, watching containers streak across the sky in all directions is fun. But the key "free market" thing here might be the 4,000 imported cars that were destroyed. That means somebody gets to make 4,000 more cars. Labor for the laborers, profit for the profiteers. Don't get no better than that.

And someone has to clean up the mess. Yeah, more labor!

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

And someone has to clean up the mess. Yeah, more labor!

China
Hazmat clean-up
Protective gear for workers.

Which one doesn't belong with the other two?

 

[Mike!]

One pic of the aftermath. Devastating.

https://i.imgur.com/mLhcUX6.jpg

E-freaking-gad, it looks like it was nuked. After watching the videos of the blasts, with giant hunks of flaming debris falling from the sky, you have to ask, what the heck exploded with such an unimaginable force?