China orders nationwide workplace safety check after Tianjin blasts

Residents, some wearing masks, hold banners and placards as they stage a protest outside a hotel where officials held daily media conferences in northeastern China’s Tianjin municipality Monday. Pic: AP.

By Asian Correspondent Staff Aug 17, 2015 

The Chinese government ordered a nationwide workplace safety check on Monday to correct any irregularities, lamenting the frequency of workplace accidents. The directive comes five days after explosions at a warehouse in Tianjin killed at least 114 people, including 64 firefighters and six police, with 70 still missing. This Daily Mail report contains images of the devastation.

Warning: Video contains expletives.

The new order requires a thorough inspection of all safety risks. Chinese authorities are still investigating what safety procedures or other dereliction of duty contributed to the blasts that came from a warehouse for hazardous materials that were being stored in amounts that violated safety rules. Work safety rules also required these facilities to be 1000 metres from highways, residences and public buildings, but in this case they were only 500 metres. An apartment complex nearby had its walls singed and windows shattered. Residents were evacuated and gathered on Monday to demand compensation from the government. The Associated Press reported:

“We victims demand: Government, buy back our houses,” said a banner carried by the residents outside the Tianjin hotel where officials have held daily news conferences about the disaster. “Kids are asking: How can we grow up healthy?” read another banner. … Bian Jiang, a resident of one of the nearby housing complexes, said he was asleep when the first explosion struck Wednesday shortly before midnight. “Twenty seconds later I heard the second explosion and saw the rising mushroom cloud. Then, I was thrown out of bed by the force of the blast. I was wondering if we would able to get out alive,” he said, adding that his home is now ruined. “All the windows are gone.”

State media quoted Premier Li Kequiang as saying, “We must thoroughly investigate (the incident) and hold accountable all those responsible. We must give an answer for families of the victims, an answer for all residents of Tianjin, an answer for all Chinese people, and an answer for history.”