Explosions in Tianjin, China

PowerPoint Show by Andrew

Late on the night of August 12, a series of ferocious explosions tore through an industrial area where toxic chemicals and gas were stored, sending massive fireballs into the sky above the port city of Tianjin, China.

The blasts killed at least 50 people and injured more than 700, Chinese state media reported. Nearby residents woke to find a devastated industrial landscape of incinerated cars, toppled shipping containers, burned-out buildings, and broken windows for miles around.

The exact cause of the disaster is still being investigated.

A damaged car sits at the site of the massive explosions in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Vehicles are seen burning after blasts at Binhai New Area in Tianjin, China, on August 13, 2015.

Flames rise next to damaged buildings at the site of an explosion in Tianjin.

A damaged bus sits near the site of a series of explosions in Tianjin.

A resident wearing a mask walks past damaged cars and strewn debris near the site of a series of explosions in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Firefighters in protective gear watch as smoke continues to billow out after an explosion at a warehouse in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Fire trucks and other rescue vehicles are pictured as smoke rises among shipping containers after explosions in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Smoke rises behind mangled shipping containers, crushed by the shockwaves of a series of explosions in Tianjin.

Shattered windows are seen on the facade of a residential building near the explosion site in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Burned cars sit in front of still-burning debris after the explosions in Tianjin.

A man stands near broken glass on a road after a nearby explosion shattered windows at a residential compound in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

An injured man leaves a residential area near the explosion site in Tianjin.

Crushed and overturned containers are seen near the explosion site in Tianjin.

A driver sits inside a damaged car near the explosion site in Tianjin.

Smoke billows from the explosion site in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Rows of cars are burned after the explosions at a warehouse in Tianjin.

A damaged car sits covered with shattered wall tiles and window parts at the explosion site in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Rows of burned Volkswagen cars sit near the explosion site in Tianjin.

Fire engines are seen at the explosion site in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Firefighters carry the body of a victim onto a van after explosions in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Residents take photos of what appears to be a metal container thrown several kilometers from the explosion site in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Shattered building windows are seen near the explosion site.

The interior of a damaged apartment next to the explosion site.

Shards of window glass remain embedded in the wall of a stairway in a building near the explosion site in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Smoke billows behind rows of burned cars at the explosion site in northern China on August 13, 2015.

A man looks at a row of damaged cars outside a residential building near the explosion site on August 13, 2015.

Damaged cars are seen as smoke rises from the debris after the explosions in Tianjin on August 13, 2015.

Damaged vehicles sit near the site of the explosions on August 13, 2015.

Residents gather near the explosion site at a port in Tianjin municipality.

Medical volunteers walk past tents set up on the playground of a primary school as temporary shelters for victims after explosions in Tianjin.

Victims of the massive explosions sit in a tent in a temporary shelter.