Apartment windows shattered by the blasts in Tianjin. (Photo : Reuters)
Eleven out of 12 residential buildings that were massively hit by the explosion in Tianjin Binhai New Area on Aug. 12 were rated high for safety, according to local authorities.
The findings on the buildings were included in the post-inspection report issued on Wednesday by the municipal Bureau of Land Resources and Housing Management.
Inspectors singled out one building among the twelve--the No. 2 building of Vanke Qingshuilanwan. The building got a lower rating compared to the others since it had a fire-damaged apartment on the 19th floor, and some parts of its rebar were uncovered, said Zhao Yi, the inspection team's chief engineer.
Zhao added that the building's defect will not affect its integrity.
The explosions at Tianjin Port have taken 139 lives, including 84 firemen, and left 34 people still missing as of Wednesday afternoon, as stated by the Tianjin Information Office. Overall, 527 people are currently hospitalized, with 10 of them in critical state.
On Tuesday, five Tianjin-based and government-owned property developers said that they have collaborated to form an alliance to acquire the explosion-damaged apartments from willing owners, with a plan of renovating them and reselling them afterward.
The member developers are creating a thorough plan with the government's guidance. The alliance's initiative is seen positively as protecting the interests of the apartments' owners, according to chairman Di Da of Tianjin Real Estate Development Co., one of the five cooperating property builders.
Although the blast area is still being cleaned up, it has been reported that the Tianjin Port fire station will be rebuilt in the same spot, along with a memorial park and a number of shopping malls.
"There will be no factories in that area in the future. It will be all green," said Zhang Bingjun, Tianjin TEDA Investment Holding Co.'s chairman, on Wednesday, as stated in Tianjin Binhai New Area's micro blog.
The local government said on Saturday that residents struggling with mortgage payments due to the explosions will not be punishable by banks.
