On August 12, 2015, a series of explosions killed 173 people, according to official reports, and injured hundreds of others at a
container storage station at the
Port of Tianjin.
[2] The first two explosions occurred within 30 seconds of each other at the facility, which is located in the
Binhai New Area of
Tianjin, China.
[3][4] The second explosion was far larger and involved the detonation of about 800 tonnes of
ammonium nitrate (336 tons
TNT equivalent).
[5] Fires caused by the initial explosions continued to burn uncontrolled throughout the weekend, resulting in eight additional explosions on 15 August. Of the 173 fatalities, 104 were firefighters.
The cause of the explosions was not immediately known,
[4] but an investigation concluded in February 2016 that an overheated container of dry
nitrocellulose was the cause of the initial explosion.
[6] The official casualty report was 173 deaths, 8 missing, and 798 non-fatal injuries.
[7]