The owner of the warehouse that exploded in Tianjin last week did not have a licence to handle hazardous chemicals until two months before the blasts, according to news reports out of China.
Two huge blasts rocked the warehouse at one of China’s busiest ports last Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people after toxic chemicals were detected in the air.
Chinese news service, Xinhua, cited an “unidentified company official” as saying that warehouse owner, Tianjin Dongjiang Port Ruihai International Logistics, did not have the certification to handle dangerous goods between October 2014 and June 2015 but continued to work with hazardous chemicals, Reuters news agency quoted a filing on the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) website which confirmed this.
According to Reuters, the Chinese government has confirmed there was about 700 tons of the deadly chemical sodium cyanide in the warehouse that blew up.
China’s top prosecutor, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, has opened an investigation into the explosions.
As well as not having the correct licence, Ruihai Logistics was also found to have violated packaging standards during a safety inspection two years ago, China’s safety bureau has said.
The company was also added to a list of “abnormally operating” firms by the Tianjin Free Trade Zone Market and Quality Regulatory Commission in July for not following guidelines in reporting its 2013 and 2014 annual results, according to the company’s records on the SAIC.
Questions arise over Tianjin warehouse operations following blast
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