A gas explosion has caused the collapse of an apartment block in Tianjin. The explosion occured at around 7.15am, July 19.
As of press time, 12 people have been injured as a result of the blast, three people are missing and one person has died, as reported by The Paper.
Image via Weibo/@头条新闻
The blast took place in Huanyan Li residential community, Beichen district, located around 15 kilometers from Tianjin city center. The collapsed building is reported to have been constructed in the 1980s.
Videos which have circulated online show the scale of the destruction, as well as efforts by emergency services to find those who are still missing.
Watch footage from the area below:
The hashtag “Explosion in Tianjin Beichen district” has received over 200 million views on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Authorities dismissed a rumor circulated online which suggested the blast had been caused deliberately as an act of revenge.
Communist Party of China (CPC) Secretary for Tianjin has visited the scene along with other officials.
Nearby residents said after having heard the blast, they quickly realized that block no. 3 within the residential community had collapsed.
The search for those missing is ongoing, as of press time.
[Cover image via Weibo/@二三里资讯]
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