Massive explosions have hit China's
northern city of Tianjin, leaving at least
17 people dead and hundreds more
injured .

State media said the blasts happened in a
warehouse storing "dangerous and chemical
goods" in the port area of the city.
Pictures and video on social media showed
flames lighting up the sky, and buildings
are said to have collapsed.

Hospitals are reported to be overwhelmed
with casualties.
President Xi Jinping has urged "all-out
efforts" to rescue victims and contain the
fire, Xinhua state news agency said.


Workers' dormitories in the port area were
also destroyed
State broadcaster China Central Television
(CCTV) said a shipment of explosives had
detonated but this was not confirmed.
State media also said senior managers of
Ruihai Logistics, which owned the
warehouse where the explosion took place,
were being questioned by authorities.

The first explosion at about 23:30 (15:30
GMT) on Wednesday was followed by
another, more powerful blast, seconds later.
Shockwaves were felt several kilometres
away.

BBC Chinese Service editor Raymond Li says
all indications are that it was an industrial
accident.

At the scene: John Sudworth,
BBC News, Tianjin
The apartment complex closest to the
explosion has eight rows of high-rise tower
blocks.

In every one of them, almost every window
has been blown out. On the ground outside
are the signs of the many families who have
fled from their beds in a hurry - a woman's
shoe, children's toys, mangled bicycles.

There would have been many injured here.
Inside the homes, furniture has been picked
up as if by a whirlwind and interior doors
lie at angles, ripped off their hinges.
It may be a long time before the cause of the
explosion is known. Such is the scale of this
disaster that for now, the authorities are
simply struggling to achieve an accurate
account of the numbers of dead and injured.


The China Earthquake Networks Centre said
the magnitude of the first explosion was the
equivalent of detonating three tons of TNT,
while the second was the equivalent of 21
tonnes of the explosive.

Further blasts were subsequently triggered
nearby, Xinhua said.

CCTV said four firefighters were among the
dead and that more than 400 people had
been injured, at least 32 of them critically.
BBC producer Xinyan Yu, who is in Tianjin,
said workers' dormitories were among the
buildings destroyed.

Hours later, fires were still burning and 100
fire engines were at the scene,
reported CCTV.

One witness, named only as Ms Yang, told
local media she was out shopping when
"suddenly from behind there was a big
fireball and explosion".

The force of the blasts shook buildings and
set parked vehicles alight
"At the time of the explosion the ground was
shaking fiercely, nearby cars and buildings
were shaking, glass from a few buildings all
broke and everyone started to run," she
said.

"Now all the residents are gathered in the
street."

Another witness, Canadian teacher Monica
Andrews, told how she woke in panic after
what she thought was an earthquake.

"I... looked out the window and the sky was
red. I just watched a second explosion go off
and [it was] just pure chaos, everyone
leaving their apartment buildings thinking
it's an earthquake, cars trying to leave the
complex. It was crazy," she told the BBC.
China National Radio said cracks were
visible in buildings near the site of the blast.
Several tower blocks near the port area are
without power, CCTV added.

Tianjin, home to some 15 million people, is
a major port and industrial area to the
south-east of the Chinese capital, Beijing,

See more photos at http://anitsdavid..com/2015/08/china-blasts-tianjin-port-city-rocked.html

So sad. In the craze to be a highly industrialized and developed country, safety measures must not be thrown to the winds.
This is hell on earth in China.

See damages oh..... Rip to. The dead and quick recovery to those. That sustain injuries....