Miscellaneous News

The screenshot of a Weixin conversation between firefighter Liu Shikang刘世嵻 and his friend, on 2:00am, Aug.13 , before Liu dive into the fireground.



01:48am
Liu Shikang: “Are you there bro”
Liu's friend: "Aye yeah"
Liu's friend: "What's up"

01:52am
Liu: "I can't make a phonecall."
Liu: "Gangzi is gone,"
Liu: "Sacrificed, K.I.A.,"

01:53am
Friend: "What the fart you are talking"
Friend: "Where are you"


Liu: "In the vehicle, to Tangku"
Liu: "Tanggu,"

Friend: "You give me a phonecall"
Liu: "I've put on all equipments now, I'm the only one carried full-set,"
Friend: "Then you call me tomorrow after you come back You must."

Liu: "Once I can't get back, my father is your father"
Liu: "Remember to sweep my mom's grave"
Friend: "Yes your father is my father"
Friend: "You be careful"


10 hours later, the friend posted on his Weibo, "Liu and his echlon get back safely, now having a rotate off."

The heroism of many of these responders during this tragedy in Tianjin is apparent.

Many lost their lives while responding to the initial fire, when the devastating explosions occurred.

I have created a:


I will be adding to it over the next several days.

Horifying tragedy, punctuated by a lot of heroism and service to others.

Much closer view of the actual explosion...
* contains some profanity.. Understandably!

I'm guessing actual yield is in the 3-5 kiloton range.. Yes it's basically a tactical nuke!

The two explosions caught on dash cam. You can tell the second one is a lot more powerful. The ball of fire raining down from the sky near the end is probably a lit cargo container sent flying.


Aerial view captured by drone.

Watch the start of this one taken by a video surveillance camera very close in. The 2nd explosion blast front is horrific:


Then watch this one by people in their apartment, also relatively close...but not fatally so:

Jeff Head said:

Watch the start of this one taken by a video surveillance camera very close in. The 2nd explosion blast front is horrific:

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Una locura! I don't think the first guy made it.

kwaigonegin said:

Una locura! I don't think the first guy made it.

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My impression is that that was a static, surveillance camera. It was undoubtedly destroyed.

If someone was holding it, then I agree...they were undoubtedly killed.

solarz said:

I just want to note that the Chinese media is being given surprising transparency over this event. Only five years ago, the first instinct of the government would have been to cover up or downplay it as much as they could. The fact that Xinhua was the first to report this, and on twitter no less, is amazing.

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This ain't something happened at some isolated desert site in Inner Mogolia, but at a port depot district in Tianjin, in the dead of night, with the 2nd blast at 21 ton TNT equivalent, even if you're too deaf to hear the blast, you've to be really blind to miss the super-duper fireball and mushroom cloud that reached hundreds of metres into the sky...good luck to try hiding that.

It's better off to expend efforts in controlling the information flow and curtail rumourmongers...which, known anti-government elements are now attacking the fire department's initial response efforts, amongst other things.

On another note, I notice that on social media platforms in Taiwan and HK, tones were mostly of a...how to put it without the use of a "f-word"..."perverse elation" would be an accurate description of it.

Jeff Head said:

My impression is that that was a static, surveillance camera. It was undoubtedly destroyed.

If someone was holding it, then I agree...they were undoubtedly killed.

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It was a live internet feed... the cameraman died unfortunately.

Poor bugger never really had a chance.

lucretius said:

It was a live internet feed... the cameraman died unfortunately.

Poor bugger never really had a chance.

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Wow! I never knew. RIP to the fellow.

As you say then, he never had a chance.