Tianjin Port president among many detained as authorities investigate explosion

Tianjin Port Group has announced today that Zheng Qingyue, president of the group, has been detained by authorities for dereliction of duty.

The role will be temporarily taken over by the vice president of the group.

Tianjin Port International Logistics Center suffered a major explosion in a chemical storage on August 12, which has so far caused the deaths of 139 people, it has also caused massive damage in the port area.

Last week, Zheng claimed in a press conference that Tianjin Port doesn’t have regulatory function on the handling of hazardous cargoes by non-affiliate companies.

Currently the State Council is conducting investigations on the incident. So far 11 senior officials in Tianjin Port Group and Tianjin Transport Authority have been detained for investigations along with senior management at the logistics firm who controlled the warehouse where the inferno started.