Two massive explosions ripped through the port city of Tianjin, China late Wednesday, leaving at least 50 dead and hundreds more injured, according to media reports.Just before midnight, local time, back-to-back explosions—large enough to be spotted from space—erupted in the city's warehouse district, and sent shockwaves blasting through buildings up to a mile away, injuring at least 700 people, with 71 people reported as critically injured.
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The explosions followed a large container fire at Tianjin Dongjiang Port Rui Hai International Logistics Co. Ltd., a company that stores and distributes one million tons of "dangerous goods" each year, according to state media. Officials are still investigating exactly what led to the explosions. Of the 50 reported dead, at least 12 firefighters who were on scene to battle the initial fire were killed in the blast.More than 1,000 firefighters were sent to the scene following the explosions to contain lingering fires and attempt to rescue any survivors trapped in the debris. A team of biochemical and nuclear military specialists also arrived to investigate the cause of the deadly blasts, according to state media reports. President Xi Jinping urged for the immediate focus to be on rescuing injured and preventing more casualties.Dozens of people already recording the fire were able to capture the explosions on film.
In the wake of the explosions, locals rushed to the hospital, Reuters reports, to treat injuries from flying glass and debris and locate family members. According to one report, traffic jams emerged as some people began to flee the city for fear of toxic smoke rising from the still-burning fire.Tianjin is one of China's largest cities, with a population of more than 15 million people. It's located on the Bohai Gulf on China's northeast shore, about 90 miles south of Beijing. Because of its location on the shore and at the merging of multiple rivers, it has a long history as a port city and still ships hundreds of millions of tons of cargo each year.