Video shot from a drone on 14 August showed thick plumes of smoke rising over the charred remains of buildings and debris at the blast site in the Chinese port of Tianjin. The explosions, which erupted late on 12 August centred on a warehouse where volatile chemicals were stored in the northeast Chinese city and killed at least 56 people.

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21 firefighters were among those killed, officials said. More than 700 people were injured, almost 60 seriously. The columns of smoke from fires burnt amid the devastation of crumpled shipping containers, thousands of torched cars and port buildings reduced to burnt-out shells.

Rescuers pulled one survivor from the wreckage, a city official told reporters. State television later said it was a firefighter. The warehouse, designed to house dangerous and toxic chemicals, was storing mainly ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and calcium carbide at the time of the blasts, according to police. The official Xinhua news agency has said several containers in the warehouse caught fire before the explosions.

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