The aftermath of the Tinjian explosions.

Factual Questions
1

Greetings all,
Have the authorities in Tinjian, or indeed Beijing, published any conclusions as to the cause of the explosions in Tinjian’s port complex on the 12th of this month?

The cynic in me believes that the rather rapid decrease in reports from China might suggest an effort to ‘keep this on the quiet’ or have the more recent falls in the Chinese Stock Market moved it from the front page?

I suppose the more general question is whether the Chinese Communist party is ever likely to fully reveal the cause.

Peter

2

I read a story that said the facility was storing much greater quantities of dangerous chemicals than it was licensed for. Also, apparently it was located too close to residential structures.

So, it seems a good bet there was some corruption involved, with officials being induced to look the other way.

3

Hello ‘George Cockcroft’,
like you I’ve read that story and numerous others, many contradictory. If I were running a disinformation campaign this would be my approach.
I’ve been trying to get hold of an Oil engineer friend who helped investigate the causes of the Piper Alpha explosions in '88 but he’s abroad apparently in the Sea of Azov but maybe not.
I fully realise even an open investigation might appear to enter a quiet phase as information and interviews are gathered but this appears to be buried, no pun intended.
Anyone else have any experience of these large scale inquiries into major man-made disasters?
Peter

4

I think there could well be some show trials–where they severely punish some people who are not highly politically connected.

5

China Rocked By Another Massive Chemical Explosion, People’s Daily Reports

6

No way to work out size/distance, ‘appears’ to be a petrochemical/chemical plant, would times be local or GMT?
Peter

7

Notice that this is the second big explosion since the Tianjin one :eek:

I dunno about anyone else, but I’m starting to get a mental image of a Chinese warehouse worker smoking a cigarette, while walking past thousands of drums marked “Flammable”.

8

Or a large storage facility marked ‘High Test Peroxide’ placed anywhere close to water.
Peter

9

New York Times front page article.

No word yet on the actual cause, but it was an accident waiting to happen.