18 August 2015 (14:56 UTC-07 Tango 01)/27 Mordad 1394/03 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1436/05 Jia-Shen (7th month) 4713
“…it’s some kind of dysfunctional process of planning!”-Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Hofstra University, interviewed by CCTV-America about why residential units were allowed to be built so close to Tianjin warehouses containing massive volumes of volatile chemicals
The latest casualties as a result of last weeks earthquake causing thermobaric explosions in China are economic; Japan’s Toyota and the U.S. based Deere (formerly John Deere) have halted their operations in Tianjin. (all three production lines at Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Company shutdown, Deere reports windows and doors at their Tianjin factory blown out)
Just over five days ago the Rui Hai International Logistics operated warehouse caught fire, then two massive explosions equivalent to 21-thousand kilograms (21 metric tons) of TNT knocked people who were 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) away on their asses! (There’s plenty of cell phone video of the Tianjin explosions on the internet.)
The explosions nearly leveled the entire Binhai new district. An investigation is underway to find out the cause, and why so many highly volatile chemicals were being stored together in one massive warehouse, and why more than 7-hundred metric tons of toxic sodium cyanide were also in the warehouse (that’s 30 times the allowed limit for warehouse storage).
The cyanide has contaminated the ground for at least 5km (3.1 miles) radius. The city’s sewage treatment plant has been dumping activated charcoal into the water due to high levels of cyanide. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been spraying hydrogen peroxide in an attempt to neutralize the cyanide.
Despite the past week’s decontamination and search & rescue efforts, yesterday the PLA and city administrators revealed they still have not entered the epicenter of the explosion site due to massive chemical contamination.
The sodium cyanide was being stored for a Chinese mining supply company whose many customers are mining ops in North and South America. If anybodies been paying attention to mining industry news then they’d know that the mining industry is undergoing massive shutdowns due to collapsing commodity market prices. This could explain why more than 7-hundred metric tons of cyanide had built up in the Rui Hai warehouse. Sodium cyanide is used to separate precious metals from rock.
It wasn’t just cyanide in that warehouse; massive amounts of benzene, hydrogen and various oxidizing agents, among other chemicals, as Rui Hai specializes in transporting volatiles. But these chemicals can also be used to make thermobaric bombs (fuel-air bombs), which are the next best thing to nukes.
Today it is raining in Tianjin, residents have been warned not to touch the rainwater runoff. Pics show foaming effect as rainwater mixes with contamination on the ground.
Tianjin is China’s third largest port city, the biggest commodities handled there are oil, natural gas and iron ore. However, the explosions at the warehouse did not affect port operations.
The latest stats:
114 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)
57 missing
322 rescued
Blast radius 3km
779 buildings damaged or destroyed
1-thousand+ new Toyotas destroyed
1-thousand 5-hundred new Renaults destroyed
2-thousand 7-hundred new VWs destroyed
Evacuation radius 5km
10 hectares (24.7 acres) confirmed contaminated with sodium cyanide
6-thousand people evacuated
12 schools and 3 apartment buildings now evacuation shelters