A series of huge explosions shook the warehouse at Tianjin Port International Logistics Center in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin late Wednesday, killing at least 44 people and injuring hundreds more, according to officials and state media.
The People's Daily newspaper said at least 520 people were injured, more than 60 of them seriously. As of Thursday morning, an unknown number of people remained unaccounted for in the wreckage.
The initial explosion erupted at a warehouse for a logistics company in an industrial area of the port city, according to Tianjin police. The company was identified as Tianjin Dongjiang Port Rui Hai International Logistics Co. Ltd.
The second explosion was so powerful that I felt the entire 16-floor-building was shaking, says an eye witness. The state-run news agency Xinhua reported that an explosion tore through a warehouse storing "dangerous and chemical goods" in Binhai, an area of the city by the water.
The firefighting division of the Chinese Public Security Ministry said firefighters were first called to the scene about a fire. An explosion went off after they arrived, it said.
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 Guardian says that the US Geological Survey registered a series of seismological actions at a station in Beijing, which is more than 160km from the blast. USGS geophysicist John Bellini said that the equipment often picks up mining blasts, but it is rare to detect seismological activity from surface events like the explosion in Tianjin.
The office buildings of China Offshore Oil Engineering, Cosco Shipping, Sinotrans and the warehouses of several shipping firms have been damaged.