Chinese Officials Fear Toxic Chemicals May Have Been Stored At Blast Site

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Authorities in China fear traces of highly toxic chemicals may pose a new threat at the still smoldering blast site in the northeastern city of Tianjin, after a series of massive explosions Wednesday killed at least 104 people and wounded more than 700 others.

According to state media, officials said a warehouse at the scene may have been storing sodium cyanide, which can release the highly poisonous gas hydrogen cyanide when burned or dissolved.

Gao Huaiyou, vice head of the Tianjin bureau of work safety, told a press conference Saturday that workers were searching for traces of the chemical compound.

"The chemicals were stored in containers," Gao said, according to a translation by state-run news agency Xinhua. "The containers were not open and some hadn't been registered, so further confirmation is needed."

Late on Wednesday night, a series of huge blasts rocked the port city, near Beijing, after a fire broke out in an industrial area.

More explosions and fires were reported by state media on Saturday.

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Reports that the blast-site radius was being evacuated because of the possible chemical contamination threat were later dismissed by an official, according to China Daily.

"No relocation has been ordered. It is a rumor," spokesperson Gong Jiansheng said at a press conference on Saturday afternoon, according to the newspaper. "We'll definitely inform the citizens if we have such a plan."

The death toll from the explosions reached 104 on Saturday, officials said, with at least 21 firefighters among the dead.

Angry relatives of the missing firefighters stormed a government news conference on Saturday to demand more information, according to the Associated Press. The disaster is reportedly the deadliest for Chinese firefighters in more than 60 years.

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One of the firefighters who was first on scene, Yang Kekai, spoke to China Daily from his hospital bed and recounted the initial efforts to fight the blaze.

“We managed to control the spread of the fire, but the containers exploded unexpectedly 15 minutes after we started spraying water,” he said.

“I subconsciously bent forward and supported my body with both hands on the ground; I heard the noise of 'bang bang' when burning container debris struck my back.”

"Before I recollected myself, more than ten seconds later another blast happened," said the firefighter, whose body was thrown into the air by the force of the explosion.

"When I was flying in the air, my heart skipped a beat and I thought I was finished," he said.

However, he later regained consciousness and made it to safety, suffering only cuts and bruises.

LINK: Massive Blasts Rock Chinese City, Killing At Least 85 People

SOURCE: BuzzFeed