A hazardous area of Tianjin, one of China’s biggest ports, remains a blast zone as firefighters battle to contain the blaze sparked by several huge explosions earlier this week.
The numbers involved are substantial: Tianjin is the tenth-largest port in the world with a local population of 15 million people.
At least 50 are believed dead, with over 700 injured, including several of the 1,000 firefighters who have been trying to get the situation back under control.
The first explosion at the site has been measured as equivalent to three tonnes of TNT, followed by a second much larger explosion equivalent to around 21 tonnes.
Both fireballs were big enough to be seen from space by satellite, according to reports, and occurred in a hazardous area of the port where chemicals are stored.
Authorities are now trying to confirm that there is no chemical risk to the local population, as well as looking into the cause of the initial explosion – which may have been due to water from firefighting efforts coming into contact with hot chemicals.
