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The warehouse that exploded is owned by a company called Ruihai Logistics, which handles toxic chemicals including sodium cyanide and toluene diisocyanate, according to reports. Sodium cyanide is mainly used to extract gold and other precious metals in mining industry. This application exploits the high affinity of gold(I) for cyanide, which induces gold metal to oxidize and dissolve in the presence of air and water; Being highly toxic, sodium cyanide is used to kill or stun rapidly such as in widely illegal cyanide fishing and in collecting jars used by entomologists. Toluene diisocyanateIt is used in the production of flexible polyurethane foams: TDI is classified as “very toxic” by the European Community. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set a permissible exposure limit with a ceiling at 0.02 ppm (0.14 mg/m3), while the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has not established a recommended exposure limit, due to the classification of toluene diisocyanate as a possible occupational carcinogen. In short: "hasta la vista BBY" those protective suits...are necessary....

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Reminds me of pictures I've seen of the Texas City disaster of 1947 when a ship blew up in the port.

pssst! Two ships and much bigger; along with the Port Chicago disaster in WWII. 581 dead: The SS Grandcamp exploded at 9:12 a.m. Exploded is probably too mild a word.
The captain and 32 of the Grandcamp's crew died; 10 somehow survived. More than 200 people were killed on the quay, including the fire department. The blast was heard 160 miles away. It shattered all the windows in Texas City and half of those in Galveston, 10 miles away.
Some debris reached an altitude of nearly 3 miles before falling back to earth. Two airplanes circling overhead were blown apart by the heavy shrapnel. A one-ton piece of the ship's propeller shaft landed 2½ miles away. Other pieces sailed 5 miles.
The blast flattened 20 waterfront blocks and 12 blocks inland. Flaming debris ignited oil, gas and chemical tanks at the sprawling Monsanto complex and three nearby oil companies. The horror did not cease...The second ship, SS Highflyer, similarly loaded, blew up, also raining death and fire anew on Texas City. The shockwave and new fires killed hundreds more.
The fires were not put out until April 18. Bodies and parts of bodies were strewn all over town. "Blood and guts" was not just a phrase. At least one survivor reported getting stuck in a slippery tangle and looking down to see that it was human intestines. oddly enough the Chinese firefighters are likely using the Texas City disaster as a guide as Fireftr18 pointed out: it's still studied today!