Video | Face to face with a fireball: Tianjin resident captures terrifying moment warehouse is blown to smithereens
A resident in Tianjin city, China, got an unexpected front-row view of the massive explosion that sliced through an industrial area, killing at least 50 people and triggering destructive shockwaves kilometres away.
The video, posted on social media and filmed from a balcony in a building close to the Binhai New Area, starts immediately after the chemicals ignited at a warehouse owned by Tianjin Dongjiang Port Ruihai International Logistics.
At first, the man and woman heard in the footage think it is a gas station fire.
Seconds later, the first massive explosion happens, sending giant fireballs shooting into the night sky and engulfing structures surrounding the warehouse. The man screams, "No! No!"
A mushroom cloud of smoke fills the air and it rains hot fire in the distance. The people in the video fear for their lives, saying, "Are we in danger here?" "Yes, we are in danger here," the man responds.
When the second, stronger explosion rips through the area, the screen briefly turns white and the scene before them turns into a wall of flames and burning debris. "Let's go!" the man shouts and turns to run, before the film cuts off.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, residents living near the site expressed continued fears for their safety after reports there could be hundreds of tonnes of dangerous chemicals in the air.
Officials in Tianjin, where 700 people were injured, told a news conference they did not yet know what materials were at the hazardous goods storage facility where the explosions happened, or the cause of the blast.
But The Beijing News reported earlier that according to manufacturers, at least 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide were at the site, along with other substances, and the poisonous chemical had been detected in sewage samples in the area. The report was no longer available on the newspaper’s website today.
A team of 217 nuclear and biochemical materials specialists from the Chinese military began work at the site on Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Little activity was visible in the immediate area today, where devastation reigned and smoke still billowed from three different spots, although roads leading to it had been cleared of debris.
With additional reporting by AFP
