Tianjin blasts death toll rises to 145

The death toll from the Tianjin warehouse explosions two weeks ago rose to 145 on Thursday with 28 others still missing.

All the dead have been identified, including 88 firefighters, nine policemen and 48 others. The missing people include 16 firefighters, two policemen and 10 others.

Two blasts ripped through a warehouse in Tianjin Port where large amounts of toxic chemicals were stored, including around 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide, at around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 12.

No excessive levels of pollutants have been found in the air outside the exclusion zone, but high levels of cyanide were detected from water samples from inside the exclusion zone, with the worst about 27 times the level officially regarded as safe.

"Safe" levels of cyanide were found in four out of six seawater monitoring locations.

Source: AFP