China denies presence of nerve gas following massive Tianjin blasts

Authorities have refuted the reported presence of nerve gas following the massive chemical explosions here that killed 114 people with 65 others still missing even as a high-level official is being probed for serious lapses that led to China’s worst industrial accident.

It is impossible for nerve gas to be present after the blasts on August 12 at a warehouse in Tianjin that stored over 3,000 tonnes of chemicals, including 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide, officials said. “A lot of people are worried about the threat of dangerous chemicals which were stored in the warehouse,” Wang <g data-gr-id="30">Yongan</g>, a research fellow with the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.

“Information should be truthful and figures accurate, so that the ordinary people should not be misled and panic,” he said as some Chinese media reported nerve gas was detected at the blast site in Tianjin, adding however that producing the gas required a complex process.

“The chemicals found at the site and the conditions wouldn’t allow generation of nerve gas,” he said.

Nerve gas contains chemicals that disrupt the mechanism by which nerves transfer messages to vital organs. It is many times more toxic than cyanide. The reports made people more anxious as the city is experiencing periodic showers, stirring up large amounts of chemicals still present.

Nie Zhiyong, a research fellow with the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology of AMMS, said that so far no nerve gas poisoning cases were reported. Bao Jingling, chief engineer of Tianjin’s bureau of environmental protection told media here today that none of the 18 air quality monitoring spots reported excessive cyanide yesterday, while water tested at eight of the 40 monitoring stations exceeded safety standards for cyanide.

About pictures circulating on the Internet that show white foam on the ground after it rained, Bao told reporters that they collected samples of water and soil from the reported <g data-gr-id="31">location,</g> but found no excessive cyanide.