RESCUERS are cleaning hundreds of tons of highly toxic cyanide in North China’s Tianjin city, following warehouse blasts that killed at least 112 people Wednesday night.

    Initial estimates put the amount of cyanide at the site at hundreds of tons, most of which was unaffected, said Shi Luze, chief of staff of the Beijing Military Area Command at a press conference yesterday.

    Rescuers are using hydrogen peroxide to neutralize the toxins and building cofferdams to enclose the damaged barrels, while trucking away those intact.

    Only safe levels of harmful gas were detected near the blast site, Shi said.

    No rescuer has been made ill by chemical contamination, according to the rescue headquarters.

    Premier Li Keqiang arrived at the blast site yesterday afternoon. He will visit firefighters, and direct further rescue operations and handling of the aftermath.

    A total of 112 bodies have been found and 95 people remain missing, including 85 firefighters, after two explosions took place in warehouses for hazardous chemicals following a fire at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. The blasts sent a mushroom cloud into the sky and shattered glasses several kilometers away.

    The missing firefighters include 13 in active service and 72 working for the Tianjin Port Group Co., said Gong Jiansheng, vice head of the city’s publicity department. Only 24 victims have been identified so far, he said.

    A total of 722 people remained in hospital, including 58 in critical or serious conditions, the rescue headquarters said Saturday night.

    Bao Jingling, chief engineer of the city’s bureau of environmental protection, said among the 17 monitoring sites outside the alert zone, two reported readings of hydrogen cyanide slightly above the normal standards that would not pose a threat to health.

    Also yesterday, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) announced it has begun to investigate whether there was any dereliction of duty involved in the explosions.

    As of yesterday, no officials have been held accountable for the explosions, but the SPP will look into possible illegal acts, such as abuse of power or dereliction of duty and deal with those acts, which may constitute crimes.

    (Xinhua)

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