23 August 2015 (11:09 UTC-07 Tango 01)/01 Shahrivar 1394/08 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1436/10 Jia-Shen (7th month) 4713
It’s starting to look intentional as yet another massive explosion in a different chemical warehouse in China! This time it happened in Dongfu Village, Shandong. The latest reports say a dozen people have been killed or wounded at the Runxing Chemical Technology Company.
Chinese news media say 150 firefighters are still fighting fires, and more firefighters from neighboring areas have been called in. Runxing Chemical makes chemicals used in automotive paint and anti-corrosive agents. People living near the factory said the explosion could be felt 5km (3.1 miles) away. Windows were blown out in residential areas that are less than 1km from the factory.
Some reports say the Runxing fire was started by a tank of acrylonitrile. PubChem says it’s used to make “…rubber, resins, plastics, elastomers and synthetic fibers and to manufacture carbon fibers used in aircraft, defense and aerospace industries.”
This explosion comes a couple of days after the Chinese government ordered surprise inspections of chemical factories and warehouses, which resulted in more than 2-hundred being shutdown due to massive safety violations.
The death toll at Tianjin continues to increase.
The latest Tianjin stats:
4,460 PLA and police personnel deployed
123 people dead (mainly firefighters, police and warehouse employees)
692 wounded (more than 50 Toyota employees wounded, it could have been more as the majority of Toyota employees had the day off, U.S. farm vehicle maker Deere also reported wounded employees, but refused to give specific numbers)
624 people still hospitalized
number of missing reduced to 50
322 rescued
Blast radius 3km
779 buildings damaged or destroyed
More than 11-thousand new cars destroyed, area now called Tomb of Cars
Jaguar-Land Rover reports nearly 6-thousand new vehicles destroyed
1-thousand+ new Toyotas destroyed
1-thousand 5-hundred new Renaults destroyed
2-thousand 7-hundred new VWs destroyed
Evacuation radius 5km
Vanke Harbor City residential area hardest hit affecting 260-thousand square meters (853-thousand square feet)
10 hectares (24.7 acres) confirmed contaminated with sodium cyanide
17-thousand families evacuated
30-thousand people directly affected
12 schools and 3 apartment buildings now evacuation shelters