3 missing after gas blast in major north Chinese port city of Tianjin
- Cause of explosion following partial building collapse is under investigation, with 11 reported injured
- Breakneck growth at the cost of safety and environmental regulations under the scanner
A gas explosion after a partial building collapse in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Tuesday morning left three people missing and 11 injured.
The incident remains under investigation, but it appears to point to the deterioration of infrastructure following more than three decades of breakneck economic growth, which has vastly boosted living standards while often skirting safety and environmental regulation.
Three floors of the six-storey building collapsed, and the subsequent explosion occurred around 7.15am, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Photos from the scene showed upper storeys of the building caved in, but no obvious damage to neighbouring units.
Deadly Tianjin warehouse explosion: review leads to China moving 10 chemical plants
Tianjin lies roughly an hour by train from the national capital Beijing and has long been one of China’s most developed and international cities.
In 2015, a massive explosion at a chemical warehouse in Tianjin killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers. The chemicals were found to be falsely registered and stored, with local officials found complicit in turning a blind eye to the potential hazard.
China has been replacing decades-old infrastructure, with natural gas lines used for cooking, heat and power generation a particular concern.
A 2013 blast in the eastern port of Qingdao killed 62 people when underground pipelines ripped open following a leak.
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