50 dead, hundreds injured, in explosions

China blasts in area where toxic chemicals and gas are stored

At least 50 people are dead and hundreds others injured or unaccounted for after Wednesday night’s two huge explosions tore through an industrial area where toxic chemicals and gas were stored in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin.

At least 700 people were injured, more than 71 seriously, the Tianjin government said on its Weibo microblog, and the official Xinhua news agency said two fires were still burning. At least 12 firefighters were among the dead.