New warehouse blast hits Tianjin: China state media

[BEIJING] A warehouse explosion hit Tianjin on Monday night, Chinese state media reported, just two months after a massive blast in the eastern port city left more than 160 dead.

The blast came at a warehouse storing "alcohol materials" in Beichen District's Xiditou Township, official news service Xinhua said.

Police received a report of an explosion at 9.46pm local time (1346 GMT), but by the early hours of Tuesday morning the fire had been put out and no casualties had yet been reported, it said.

The explosion became a trending topic on the Sina Weibo social media platform early on Tuesday, with users posting what they said were images of the blast.

A total of 165 people died as a result of the explosions of August 12 at a hazardous goods storage facility, which devastated a swathe of Tianjin, authorities say, including nearly 100 firefighters.

The explosions and their aftermath raised a host of questions in China about industrial safety, as well as the enforcement of residential zoning regulations, government transparency and the adequacy of firefighter training.

AFP