Explosions send fireballs into sky and hundreds to hospitals

Tianjin, China • Huge explosions at a warehouse for dangerous materials in the northeastern Chinese port of Tianjin killed at least 17 people, injured hundreds and sent massive fireballs into the night sky, officials and witnesses said Thursday.

China's state broadcaster, CCTV, said that at least 17 people were killed and that 32 were in critical condition in hospitals. Hundreds of others were also taken to hospitals. The explosions late Wednesday knocked doors off buildings in the area and shattered windows several miles away.

"I thought it was an earthquake, so I rushed downstairs without my shoes on," Tianjin resident Zhang Siyu, whose home is several miles from the blast site, said in a telephone interview. "Only once I was outside did I realize it was an explosion. There was the huge fireball in the sky with thick clouds."

There was no indication of what caused the blasts, and no immediate sign of any large release of toxic chemicals into the air. Beijing News reported on its website that there was some unidentified yellow foam flowing at the site.

Police in Tianjin said an initial blast took place at shipping containers in a warehouse for hazardous materials owned by Ruihai Logistics, a company that says it's properly approved to handle hazardous materials. State media said senior management of the company had been detained by authorities and that President Xi Jinping has demanded severe punishment for anyone found responsible for the explosions.

The official Xinhua News agency said an initial explosion triggered other blasts at nearby businesses. The National Earthquake Bureau reported two major blasts before midnight, the first with an equivalent of 3 tons of TNT and the second with 21 tons.

The explosions took place in a mostly industrial zone, with some apartment buildings in the vicinity. Buildings of a half-dozen other logistics companies were destroyed in the blasts. More than 1,000 new Renault cars were left charred in a nearby parking lot, Beijing News said.

Photos taken by bystanders and circulating on micro- blogs show a gigantic mushroom-cloud fireball high in the sky. Other photos on state media outlets showed a sea of fire that painted the night sky bright orange.

About a mile from the explosion site is the luxury Fifth Avenue apartment complex on a road strewn with broken glass and pieces of charred metal thrown from the explosions. Like surrounding buildings, the Mediterranean-style complex had all its windows blown out; some of its surfaces were scorched.

"It's lucky no one had moved in," said a worker on the site, Liu Junwei, 29. "But for us, it's a total loss. Two years hard work down the drain."

At the nearby Taida Hospital as dawn broke, military medical tents were set up. Photos circulating online showed patients in bandages and with cuts.

CCTV said six battalions of firefighters had brought the fire under control, although it was still burning in the early hours of Thursday.

Tianjin, population 15 million, is about 75 miles east of Beijing on the Bohai Sea and is one of the country's major ports.