CHINA: Explosion Death Toll Hits 50, Rescue Operations Suspended Due To Toxic Chemicals [VIDEO]

TIME Magazine reports:

An environmental expert says evacuation of the area around Wednesday’s mammoth warehouse blast in the Chinese port city of Tianjin is the “main priority,” and warned of the explosion’s long term consequences. His words came as the death toll continued to rise, with at least 50 people dead and over 500 hospitalized, of which 71 are in critical condition, officials said Thursday. Several of the dead are reportedly firefighters. “With a blast like this, normally you would expect the transport [of particulate matter] to be along the wind gradient or contours, but a blast this big must push it beyond that in the opposite direction,” Ravi Naidu, Director of the Global Centre for Environmental Remediation at the University of Newcastle Australia, told TIME. “Not just people but animals and other organisms would be exposed to certain chemicals.” Rescue operations have been temporarily suspended while chemical teams scan the area for harmful materials as fears of airborne toxins mount.