TIANJIN, China — Rescuers pulled out a 19-year-old firefighter who was trapped for 32 hours after responding to a fire and huge explosions in the port city of Tianjin as authorities dealt Friday with a fire still smoldering amid potentially dangerous chemicals.
A rapid succession of explosions late Wednesday — one equal to 21 tons of TNT — killed at least 85 people, injured more than 720 and left several firefighters missing.
The explosions were sparked by a fire at what officials said were shipping containers containing hazardous material at a warehouse, and they struck a mostly industrial zone late at night — otherwise the death toll could have been higher. But the warehouse was close enough to residences to appear out of compliance with safety regulations, raising questions about whether the facility had properly been authorized.
The toll included at least 21 firefighters among the more than 1,000 sent to the disaster. Firefighters initially responded to a fire at the warehouse and many of them apparently were killed by a series of explosions triggered 40 minutes after the fire was reported.
Zhou Ti was pulled from the zone at dawn Friday and taken to a hospital; he was treated for face, chest and foot injuries.
“I was knocked onto the ground at the first blast,” Zhou said from his hospital bed, his eyes closed. “I covered my head and don’t know what happened after that.”
