Tianjin Chemical Explosion in China

On the second day of the Tianijn blast, journalists entered the blast site to take photos and investigate. Thousands of cars at an imported car warehouse only 400 metres from the blast site were completely destroyed. The carpark was roughly the size of four football fields and contained thousands of brand new cars, almost all of which were so damaged that they were reduced to just their framework. The explosion reportedly caused up to RMB2 billion (USD312 million) worth of damage. The two residential compounds closest to the blast site (only 800 metres) were also reduced to crumbling frames.

On the the night of August 12, double explosions at a chemical storage plant - the first equivalent to detonating three tonnes of TNT, and the second equivalent to 20 tonnes - rocked Tianjin port in northeast China.

The Ruihai Logistics Company warehouse in the Tianjin Binhai New Area, an industrial base located along the coast of the Bohai Sea, was storing a number of highly hazardous and highly reactive chemicals, including hundreds of tonnes of sodium cyanide.

On Friday August 14, Greenpeace East Asia sent out a rapid response field team to bear witness. In the first half of 2015, over 13 chemical industry explosion accidents have occurred. The severity of the Tianjin explosion should be a wake-up call for the government. Greenpeace East Asia calls on the government to close loopholes, and ensure regulations are are implemented effectively.