Soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army’s anti-chemical warfare corps, wearing gas masks, examine a container at the site of last week’s explosions at Binhai new district in Tianjin, China, Aug. 16, 2015.
Last updated on: August 16, 2015 11:59 AM
China confirmed Sunday that sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical, was stored in the warehouses devastated by massive explosions last week in the port city of Tianjin.
Shi Luze, chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army’s Beijing Military Region, said more than 100 tons of the deadly chemical was stored in two locations within the blast site.
Sodium cyanide 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.
Chinese officials also said Sunday the death toll from the blasts has risen to 112. At least 21 firefighters are among the dead, state media reported.
More than 700 people were injured and nearly 100 people are missing, including 85 firefighters.
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was in Tianjin on Sunday, visiting those injured and displaced by the disaster.
Chinese authorities have ordered a mandatory evacuation near the site that devastated an industrial neighborhood in the northeastern city.
Contamination concerns
Chief of Staff Shi said that 3,000 soldiers had been dispatched to the disaster zone to clean up any leaks of hazardous materials.
Local residents are concerned about the toxins contaminating their water supply.
Angry relatives of the missing firefighters and local residents whose homes were destroyed by the blasts also showed up at a government news conference Sunday to demand information and accountability.
Greenpeace, the environmental activist group, said Sunday it had tested water in several locations around the site and did not find any high cyanide contamination levels.
