20 August 2015 (22:34 UTC-07 Tango 01, 19 August 2015)/29 Mordad 1394/05 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1436/07 Jia-Shen (7th month) 4713
“We were shocked to find out that these three companies were able to store extremely dangerous chemicals so close to public areas including kindergartens, primary schools and middle schools….this information was not known by people living close to the dangerous storage warehouse. This is a clear violation of the regulations.”– Wu Yixiu, Greenpeace East Asia
Is this a big insurance pay-off scam? One estimate said insurance companies will payout at least $1.5-billion USD to companies affected by the Tianjin explosions.
There are reports of nerve gas being detected at the epicenter of the thermobaric explosions that hit now non-existent Rui Hai International Logistics warehouse in Binhai district, Tianjin, China. The estimated strength of those blasts has been increased to 24 metric tons (24-thousand kilograms).
City administrators downplayed the reports of nerve gas saying air monitoring sites outside the blast area do not detect nerve gas, but it was local firefighters conducting decontamination work that made the report about nerve gas. The big problem is that the company operating the warehouse is now believed to have lied about what was being stored. This comes as the international environmentalist radical group Greenpeace claims they’ve discovered there were two other companies that were illegally storing toxic chemicals within the blast area, before the fire and explosions rocked Tianjin.
“There are around 40 types of hazardous chemicals stocked in the warehouse, mainly in three categories. This includes 1,300 tonnes [metric tons] of ammonium nitrate and potassium nitrate; 500 tonnes of metal sodium and magnesium and 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide.”-He Shushan, Vice Mayor of Tianjin.
Besides the benzene, hydrogen and sodium cyanide previously reported, the latest reports say potassium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrate, magnesium and calcium carbide were among many chemicals being warehoused.
Magnesium can be used for welding, and in armor defeating thermite grenades and incendiary bombs.
Calcium carbide is used in fertilizers and in the metals industry. It can be mixed with water to create flammable acetylene gas. It’s been raining in Tianjin, so besides the concern over the sodium cyanide contamination, there was concern about rainwater mixing with the calcium carbide. The good news is that city administrators say the rain has apparently cleared Tianjin streets of the residual contamination.
Nitrates can be used as food preservatives, fertilizers or explosives. Bomb detectors used by the U.S. TSA at U.S. airports detect chemicals including nitrates. I had a relative who was flying back to California and he had bought an Idaho made smoked sausage. I knew it would set off the bomb alarm at the Pocatello Airport, and it sure did. It was hilarious to watch the TSA employees’ befuddled facial expression as they ran their hand held scanner over a less than foot long sausage that apparently was a bomb! I pointed out that sausages are made with nitrates, they looked at the ingredient label and seemed amazed to see nitrates as one of the ingredients. They let my relative board the plane with his treasured Idaho sausage.
In April 1995, the U.S. federal Murrah Building in Oklahoma City was destroyed by a truck bomb made with thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate and acetylene (made with calcium carbide), as well as other ingredients. Another 324 buildings in a 16 block radius were damaged. 168 people killed.
Back in Tianjin, the People’s Liberation Army NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) teams have been rotating 40 minute excursions into the epicenter, it’s that contaminated.
21,000 kg thermobaric ‘bombs’ hit Toyota & John Deere!
The latest stats:
114 people dead (mainly firefighters, police and warehouse employees)
692 wounded (more than 50 Toyota employees wounded, it could have been more as the majority of Toyota employees had the day off, U.S. farm vehicle maker Deere also reported wounded employees, but refused to give specific numbers)
number of missing increased to 64
322 rescued
Blast radius 3km
779 buildings damaged or destroyed
1-thousand+ new Toyotas destroyed
1-thousand 5-hundred new Renaults destroyed
2-thousand 7-hundred new VWs destroyed
Evacuation radius 5km
10 hectares (24.7 acres) confirmed contaminated with sodium cyanide
17-thousand families evacuated
30-thousand people directly affected
12 schools and 3 apartment buildings now evacuation shelters