Residents demand compensation
TIANJIN (AP) — About a hundred people whose residences were damaged in the massive Tianjin blasts gathered yesterday for a protest to demand compensation from the government as the death toll from the disaster rose to 114 with 70 still missing.
The blasts lasts Wednesday night originated at a warehouse for hazardous material, where hundreds of tons of sodium cyanide — a toxic chemical that can form combustible substances on contact with water — were being stored in amounts that violated safety rules. That has prompted contamination fears and a major cleanup of a three-kilometer radius, cordonedoff area in this Chinese port city southeast of Beijing.
Chinese work safety rules require such facilities to be at least 1,000 meters away from residences, public buildings and highways. But online map searches show the Ruihai International Logistics warehouse was within 500 meters of both an expressway and a 100,000-square-meter apartment complex. Those apartments had walls singed and windows shattered, and all the residents have been evacuated.
“We victims demand: government, buy back our houses,” said a banner carried by the residents at a protest outside the Tianjin hotel where officials have held daily news conferences about the disaster. “Kids are asking: how can we grow up healthy?” read another banner.
Tianjin officials have been hard-pressed to answer how the warehouse was allowed to operate in its location. Questions also have been raised about management of the warehouse, and the country’s top prosecuting office announced Sunday that it was setting up a team to investigate possible offenses related to the massive blasts, including dereliction of duty and abuse of power. Ruihai’s general manager is in hospital under police watch.
The blasts claimed the lives of at least 114 people, with 70 still missing, including 64 firefighters and six policemen, Tianjin government spokesman Gong Jiansheng told a news conference Monday.
On Sunday, authorities confirmed there were “several hundred” tons of the toxic chemical sodium cyanide on the site at the time of the blasts, although they said there have not been any substantial leaks. Authorities also said they had sealed all waterways leading into the sea from the blast site.
Sodium cyanide is a toxic chemical that can form a flammable gas upon contact with water, and several hundred tons would be a clear violation of rules cited by state media that the warehouse could store no more than 10 tons at a time.