China explosion: Tianjin death toll rises in port blasts

At least 44 people are now known to have died, and more than 500 injured, following two major explosions in China’s northern port city of Tianjin.

Twelve firefighters were among the dead, China’s official Xinhua news agency said as it reported a doubling of the death toll.

Two blasts happened in a warehouse storing “dangerous and chemical goods” in the port area of the city.

The blasts caused a huge fireball that could be seen from space.

Buildings within a 2km radius (1.5 miles) had windows blown out, office blocks were destroyed and hundreds of cars burnt-out.

Images on Chinese media showed local residents and workers fleeing their homes, some of them covered in blood from broken glass and flying debris.

As of 12:00 local time (04:00 GMT), 44 people had died and a total of 520 people had been hospitalised, including 66 in a critical condition, Xinhua reported.

The apartment complex closest to the explosion has eight rows of high-rise tower blocks.

In every one of them, almost every window has been blown out. On the ground outside are the signs of the many families who have fled from their beds in a hurry – a woman’s shoe, children’s toys, mangled bicycles.

There would have been many injured here. Inside the homes, furniture has been picked up as if by a whirlwind and interior doors lie at angles, ripped off their hinges.

BBC