2016 Photo Contest, General News, 3rd prize

Tianjin Explosion

Photographer

Chen Jie

Beijing News

15 August, 2015

A large pit, wrecked vehicles and damaged buildings remain in the aftermath of explosions in the container storage station of a logistics company in the Port of Tianjin, northeastern China.

The warehouse, owned by Ruhai Logistics, was registered for storage of hazardous chemicals. Safety regulations stipulating that public buildings should be at least one kilometer away were not heeded. A series of explosions at the facility resulted in damage to some 17,000 residences and 8,000 vehicles, killing over 170 people (95 of them firefighters) and injuring hundreds more. Later investigation concluded that the first explosion occurred in an overheated container of dry nitrocellulose, which set off further explosions, including one that involved the detonation of around 800 tons of ammonium nitrate.

About the photographer

Chen Jie

From 2005 to 2014, he was the director of photography at the Beijing News and associate editor of Visual Center. In May of 2014, he quit his office work and became a photojournal...

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