On August 12, 2015, the Chinese port city of Tianjin was shocked by a terrible disaster, the news of which scattered around the world with incredible speed. Also on the Internet got a video on which the catastrophe in China was captured. What happened and what were the consequences of this incident, we learn in more detail.
What happened on that fateful night?
How did the disaster happen in China? The explosion, then, with an interval of half a minute, is another. The explosions occurred in one of the warehouses owned by the logistics company Ruihai Logistics. Explosive substances were known to be stored at this facility. However, reliable information regarding their quantity and exact composition is not available. The explosions led to a fire, which, however, managed to be localized relatively quickly. The fire area was approximately 20 thousand square meters.
As a result of the explosions, at least fifty people died at once, another 700 received various kinds of damage. Also, several dozen people were reported missing. Experts estimated the power of explosions - 3 and 21 tons in TNT equivalent. Seismologists claim that the disaster in China caused significant fluctuations in the earth. In the early hours of the incident, the Chinese authorities announced that all necessary efforts would be made to save the wounded, as well as to minimize the consequences of the explosions.
Reasons for the emergency
If we talk about the causes of the explosions in Tianjin, the obvious question immediately arises: "Why is the warehouse on which such hazardous materials were stored so close to people's places of residence?" To date, the investigating authorities have not been able to recreate the exact picture of what happened. Nevertheless, charges have already been brought against some Chinese officials, as well as senior officials at Ruihai Logistics. According to the investigation, these people are more or less guilty of the fact that this disaster occurred in China. In August, many of them were arrested.
During the investigation, many violations of Chinese law were revealed, it is possible that there was corruption. Licenses for the storage of hazardous chemicals were issued with gross violations. It also became known that during the construction of warehouses and the operation of explosive chemical materials elementary safety rules were not observed.
Aftermath of explosions
As a result of the disaster in Tianjin, several multi-storey residential buildings located in relative proximity to warehouses were destroyed. In the parking lot near the port, several thousand new cars were burned to the ground. According to eyewitnesses, at the time of the explosion, like huge matchboxes, even huge metal containers with goods, located on the territory of the logistics complex, flew into the air.
Over 1, 500 enterprises were affected to one degree or another by explosions. Also, in the area of the scene of the accident, the movement of automobile and railway transport was suspended, gas stations were closed. In the immediate vicinity of the logistics warehouse is the national supercomputer center. At the time of the disaster in China, its employees decided to stop the world's fastest Tianhe-1A supercomputer. The center itself was not damaged, not counting the partially damaged ceilings in the building.
The Chinese authorities had to suspend the work of the Tianjin port. Since even after the main explosions, the threat of new ones remained, the ability to receive and send tankers carrying oil and other chemicals to other ports was limited in the first place.
Liquidation of consequences
Almost one and a half hundred fire brigades were involved to eliminate the consequences of the explosions. Over a thousand firefighters joined in the fight against fire and rescue operations. Representatives of paramilitary units were also involved, and the scene of the disaster was aerial surveillance using military helicopters.
The catastrophe in China has attracted the attention of the entire international community - the governments of the European Union and the Russian Federation have offered assistance to China to eliminate the consequences of emergency and minimize potential losses.
