Death toll at 158 in blasts at China port
AAP
August 31, 2015, 9:59 pm
The death toll has risen to 158 from explosions at a chemical warehouse in north-eastern China, with 15 people still missing.
The toll included 94 firefighters and 11 police killed in the August 12 accident, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
Hundreds more were injured by the multiple explosions that shot into the sky above the port city of Tianjin.
Eleven local officials are being prosecuted over the blasts.
Port officials failed to manage the risk of storing dangerous chemicals, the Ministry of Public Security said.
The warehouse, operated by Ruihai International Logistics Company, was storing about 40 substances, including 500 tons of flammable materials and 700 tons of highly toxic substances, mainly sodium cyanide, Xinhua reported.
Water near the site contained cyanide levels 356 times higher than the national safety standard, the Environmental Protection Ministry said on August 20.
The blasts caused varying degrees of damage to 17,000 residences, Xinhua reported.
