Tianjin Port City In China Shaken By Massive Explosion

Chinese state media say explosions at a container port in the northeastern city of Tianjin has injured at least 300 people.

The state-run Beijing News said on its website that between 300 and 400 people had been admitted to hospitals in the city, east of Beijing. It says the explosion shattered windows and knocked off doors of buildings in the area.

Police in Tianjin said an initial blast took place late Wednesday night in shipping containers at a warehouse for hazardous materials owned by a logistics company.

The official Xinhua News agency said an initial explosion triggered other blasts at nearby businesses. The National Earthquake Bureau reported two major blasts before midnight, the first with an equivalent of 3 tons of TNT, and the second with the equivalent of 21 tons.

Photos circulating online show a gigantic fireball high in the sky, with a mushroom-cloud.

State broadcaster CCTV says six battalions of firefighters had brought the ensuing fire under control, although it was still burning. It says the firefighters were combing the neighborhood for possible injured residents.

Tianjin is an important industrial and port city with about 7.5 million residents, that sits a few dozen miles southeast of the capitol Beijing on the coast of the East China Sea.